CHaque year, there are 263 million cases of malaria caused by the gender parasite Plasmodium and 597,000 deaths, which occur almost exclusively in Africa. Fortunately, in 2023, after decades of research, an effective vaccine at more than 75 % and baptized R21 was deployed to children from the age of 5 months.
The catch? It requires three injections a month apart and a reminder a year later. If the vaccination campaigns manage to reach their target for the first injection, the situation is then complicated. “Very few families come back for reminders, which considerably reduces vaccination coverage and therefore its effectiveness”, Specifies Romain Guyon, French researcher at the Jenner Institute of the University of Oxford, where the R21 vaccine has been developed.
It is precisely to respond to this problem that the young scientist has developed a revolutionary encapsulation technology: it makes it possible to administer all doses in one time and to deliver them until timely. The principle is based on the controlled degradation of the wall of microcapsule 1, which thus releases the following dose 2. By chemically modifying this “shell”, it becomes possible to choose precisely when the product will be distributed in the body.
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Each of these capsules has a diameter less than 60 micrometers – about that of a hair -, which allows it to easily pass through the […] Read more
