Microneedle-mediated delivery of viral vectored vaccines

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Microneedle array platforms are a promising technology for vaccine delivery, due to their ease of administration with no sharp waste generated, small size, possibility of targeted delivery to the specified skin depth and efficacious delivery of different vaccine formulations, including viral vectors.

Areas covered: Attributes and challenges of the most promising viral vector candidates that have advanced to the clinic and that have been leveraged for skin delivery by microneedles; The importance of understanding the immunobiology of antigen-presenting cells in the skin, in particular dendritic cells, in order to generate further improved skin vaccination strategies; recent studies where viral vectors expressing various antigens have been coupled with microneedle technology to examine their potential for improved vaccination.

Expert opinion: Simple, economic and efficacious vaccine delivery methods are needed to improve health outcomes and manage possible outbreaks of new emerging viruses. Understanding what innate/inflammatory signals are required to induce both immediate and long-term responses remains a major hurdle in the development of the effective vaccines. One approach to meet these needs is microneedle-mediated viral vector vaccination. In order for this technology to fulfil this potential the industry must invest significantly to further develop its design, production, biosafety, delivery and large-scale manufacturing.

KEYWORDS:

• Microneedles
• vaccination
• dendritic cells
• viral vectors

Article highlights

• Understanding immunobiology of antigen presenting cells in the skin is of crucial importance when designing novel skin vaccination strategies.

• Designing vaccines capable of inducing robust T cell-mediated immune responses is a primary focus of research in the field of immunotherapy.

• Various viral vector vaccines show great promise in activating antigen-specific adaptive immunity.

• There are, however, disadvantages associated with a use of viral vectors as a vaccine technology platform that need to be addressed in further, more advanced studies.

• Microneedle technology exploited for intracutaneous delivery of various viral vectored vaccines shows significant potential for improved vaccination.

This box summarizes key points contained in the article.

Declaration of interest

The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

Additional information

Funding

The authors were supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Collaboration for Melinda AIDS Vaccine Discovery Award (38639) and a European Union Marie Curie Initial Training Network (Univacflu) award (607690).