Enabling skin vaccination using new delivery technologies

Abstract

The skin is known to be a highly immunogenic site for vaccination, but few vaccines in clinical use target skin largely because conventional intradermal injection is difficult and unreliable to perform. Now, a number of new or newly adapted delivery technologies have been shown to administer vaccine to the skin either by non-invasive or minimally invasive methods. Non-invasive methods include high-velocity powder and liquid jet injection, as well as diffusion-based patches in combination with skin abrasion, thermal ablation, ultrasound, electroporation, and chemical enhancers. Minimally invasive methods are generally based on small needles, including solid microneedle patches, hollow microneedle injections, and tattoo guns. The introduction of these advanced delivery technologies can make the skin a site for simple, reliable vaccination that increases vaccine immunogenicity and offers logistical advantages to improve the speed and coverage of vaccination.