Development of stabilised vaccines with needle-free devices for targeted skin immunisation

Vaccination represents the primary public health measure to combat infectious diseases. However, limitations of cold-chain storage, vaccine wastage, hazardous sharps-waste and the requirements for trained personnel add significant and unsustainable financial and logistic costs to immunisation programmes. Developments of needle-free methods should aim to overcome these logistics issues from the very start of the vaccine production process. Dermal vaccine administration using microneedle-based devices promises to be one such needle-free method that addresses all of these issues. Methods of stabilisation of vaccines onto or incorporated into microneedles should be developed to permit seamless transition and cost-effectiveness from vaccine bulk-up to final product. This review examines recent developments in microneedle technology and highlights the current challenges to translate this technology into practice.