MRNA Delivery Particles Reduce Vaccine Dosage & Costs
- A new delivery particle developed at MIT could make mRNA vaccines more effective and potentially lower the cost per vaccine dose.
- In studies in mice, the researchers showed that an mRNA influenza vaccine delivered with their new lipid nanoparticle could generate the same immune response as mRNA delivered by...
- "One of the challenges with mRNA vaccines is the cost," says Daniel Anderson, a professor in MIT's Department of Chemical Engineering and a member of MIT's Koch Institute...
“`html
MIT Develops Novel Lipid Nanoparticle for More Effective and Affordable mRNA Vaccines
Table of Contents
The Challenge of mRNA Vaccine Costs
A new delivery particle developed at MIT could make mRNA vaccines more effective and potentially lower the cost per vaccine dose. The high cost of mRNA vaccine production has been a significant barrier to widespread global distribution,especially in low- and middle-income countries. This new development addresses that critical need.
breakthrough in Nanoparticle Technology
In studies in mice, the researchers showed that an mRNA influenza vaccine delivered with their new lipid nanoparticle could generate the same immune response as mRNA delivered by nanoparticles made with FDA-approved materials, but at around 1/100 the dose. This represents a considerable advancement in delivery efficiency.
“One of the challenges with mRNA vaccines is the cost,” says Daniel Anderson, a professor in MIT’s Department of Chemical Engineering and a member of MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and Institute for Medical Engineering and Science (IMES). “When you think about the cost of making a vaccine that could be distributed widely, it can really add up. Our goal has been to try to make nanoparticles that can give you a safe and effective vaccine response but at a much lower dose.”
While the researchers used their particles to deliver a flu vaccine, they could also be used for vaccines for Covid-19 and other infectious diseases, they say.
Anderson is the senior author of the study, which appears today in Nature Nanotechnology. The lead authors of the paper are Arnab Rudra, a visiting scientist at the Koch Institute; Akash Gupta, a Koch Institute research scientist; and Kaelan Reed, an MIT graduate student.
How Lipid Nanoparticles Work
To protect mRNA vaccines from breaking down in the body after injection, they are packaged inside a lipid nanoparticle, or LNP. These fatty spheres help mRNA get into cells so that it can be translated into a fragment of a protein from a pathogen such as influenza or SARS-