PR018 - February 2008

CAMBRIDGE BIOSTABILITY AWARDED £200,000 EEDA GRANT TO DEVELOP NOVEL STABLE VACCINE DELIVERY PLATFORM

Cambridge Biostability Limited has been awarded a grant from the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) to support the next phase of the development of its novel ‘Hypodermic Rehydration Injection System’ (HydRIS) vaccine stabilisation and delivery platform. The Development grant, worth up to £200,000 over 18 months is to be used to further the development of HydRIS from its existing laboratory scale to an automated, self-contained sterile production process making HydRIS units to current good manufacturing practice (cGMP) standards. 

The basis of the HydRIS process is a technology to stabilise vaccines in a dry format then store them indefinitely within the confines of a modified hypodermic needle. To deliver a dose of vaccine, clean water is simply flushed through the needle, re-hydrating the vaccine at the same time as it is administered to the patient.

CBL’s Chief Scientific Adviser, Dr Bruce Roser comments “HydRIS allows us to use our glass stabilisation technology to make simple, low-cost instantly injectable vaccines that save money compared with current vaccines. This is because HydRIS eliminates the need for the storage and shipment of much of the expensive and bulky supplies currently needed for most vaccination campaigns. These include glass vials of liquid or freeze-dried vaccines, bottles of sterile diluents for reconstitution and additional needles and syringes needed to reconstitute the vaccines and then inject them. Another advantage of HydRIS is that it also standardises an individual dose within a single unit avoiding the current problems of inaccurate reconstitution.”

Dr David Moss, Head of Research at Biostability says “HydRIS has always been an ideal platform for stabilising basic vaccines such as tetanus and hepatitis B but recent research has demonstrated that the technology is exceptionally well suited to stabilising live virus vaccines because the drying conditions are so gentle. This finding is generating a great deal of interest in the wider scientific community.”

It is predicted that the cGMP HydRIS facility will be ready in 2009 and will have the capacity to produce sufficient units for pre-clinical and Phase 1 clinical studies.

Mark Aspinall, Head of Innovation at EEDA, said “Cambridge Biostability’s work in developing this novel approach to vaccine stabilisation is precisely the type of initiative the 'grant for research and development' scheme aims to support. The development on this project should have a beneficial impact not only for their company, but for the bio-technology sector at large and the East of England region as a whole. We applaud their vision and determination to drive their process forward and wish them every success.”

-ENDS-

About EEDA

The East of England Development Agency (EEDA) is the driving force behind sustainable economic regeneration in the East of England: Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk. The vision is for the East of England is to create a leading economy, founded on a world class knowledge base, creativity and enterprise to improve the quality of life for all who live and work here.

EEDA aims to do this by:
1. Setting and shaping the direction of economic development in the region
2. Persuading and influencing others to bring resources together, so that innovative ways of solving challenging economic issues are found
3. Investing in imaginative projects that challenge the norm and will have a significant impact on economic development in the region.

These aims are delivered through the four key areas of Business Support, Enterprise Hubs, Investing in Communities, and Regional Renaissance.

Funding options available from EEDA are:
The Proof of Concept fund - providing financial support to help assess the market for fledgling business ideas.
The Grant for Research and Development scheme - helping entrepreneurs to carry out research and development work on technology-focused products or processes.
Selective finance for investment in England – helping businesses to grow through shared capital investment.

For further information please contact:

Nick Benham
EEDA Communications Executive - Finance for Innovation
The East of England Development Agency
T: 01223 484536 Switch: 01223 713900
F: 01223 713939
The Business Centre, Station Road, Histon, Cambridge, CB4 9LQ

Or visit www.eeda.org.uk/financeforinnovation