MIT develops tech to pack several vaccine doses into a single shot

CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS — The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has developed a drug delivery method that packs multiple doses in a single injection, and could soon make multi-shot vaccines a thing of the past.

According to the MIT News Office, engineers used biodegradable polymers used in implants, sutures, and prosthetic devices, and pressed them into silicone molds to form tiny cups each measuring 400 micrometers across.

The cups are filled with vaccine and covered with a lid made from the same polymer. Heat is applied to fuse the cup and lid together, sealing the vaccine inside.

Varying its chemical makeup allows the polymers to degrade at specific times, though all are delivered simultaneously via a single injection.

Inside the body, the vaccine is released once the cup degrades. Lab tests on mice showed the polymer cups successfully releasing their payload in 9, 20, and 41 days, without prior leakage.

Researchers say the new technology could benefit patients in developing nations, who are often unable to travel frequently to health care facilities to complete their shots.

It may also allow newborns to be given an injection carrying one or two year's worth of vaccines, minimizing stressful, tear-filled doctor's visits for kids and parents alike.