Technical, economic, and clinical challenges to the development of new biomaterials-based vaccines

Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering, 2005.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 81-87).Research into novel vaccine methods is becoming increasingly important for the potential treatment of widespread diseases such as cancer, HIV, and malaria. Members of the Irvine laboratory have developed a hydrogel and particle-based injectable vaccine with the potential to treat such diseases. The vaccine aims to elicit a tailored immune response to a particular type of disease so as to destroy infected or cells in the body and/or develop immunological memory for future protection against the disease. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the feasibility of getting such a biomaterials-based novel vaccination method to the market. Topics such as application potential, efficacy, modes of delivery, storage, patent ability, and costs for producing the vaccine are explored. Finally, a suggested business strategy is outlined, through which value can be successfully obtained from the novel vaccine.by Kathleen Renee Huffman.M.Eng