Construction is well underway for a needle-free vaccine facility at Northshore Hamilton, which is a first of its kind in Australia.
Read: Hamilton Could Soon Be Producing Needle-Free Vaccines
Biotech company Vaxxas’ needle-free vaccine facility in Hamilton will feature a house office, R&D laboratories, and device and cleanroom manufacturing spaces.
The existing warehouse on the site will be refurbished to make way for the needle-free vaccine facility, to help Vaxxas manufacture its proprietary high-density microarray patch (HD-MAP) for Phase II, Phase III and early-stage commercial use.
The new facility, which is a key part of Queensland’s Economic Recovery Plan, is set for completion in the first quarter of 2023.
Once construction is finished, Vaxxas expects to manufacture enough needle-free vaccine kits to deliver 300 million doses each year at full capacity.
According to Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development Steven Miles, Vaxxas will employ up to 110 high-skilled biomedical experts when operating in early 2023.
“This could grow to more than 139 new jobs over five years, which will go a long way in securing Queensland as a globally competitive Asia-Pacific biomedical hub,” Mr Miles said.
How A Needle-free Vaccine Works
Vaxxas’ technology uses a small patch with a surface of thousands of micro-projections coated with a vaccine to deliver the vaccine to the abundance of immune cells immediately below the skin surface.
According to Vaxxas Chief Operations and Development Officer Angus Forster, their high density micro-array patch (HD-MAP) technology can deposit a vaccine through the surface of the skin in just a few seconds.
“Our clinical research shows that this elicits a more efficient and effective immune response than traditional syringes due to the abundance of immune cells immediately below the surface of the skin,” Mr Forster said.
Mr Forster added that there will be an opportunity to make the transportation of vaccines to rural and remote communities much easier as the vaccine patch can be stored at temperatures as high as 40ºC.
Read: Northshore Hamilton Prepares to Transform for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics
For further information about Vaxxas’ novel vaccination technology, visit www.vaxxas.com.
