Micron Biomedical, a life science company developing the world’s first needle-free technology for drugs and vaccines based on dissolvable microarrays, announced the company secured a $7.5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that brings total grant funding from the organization to $43 million.
The grant will support Micron’s efforts in increasing access to the measles-rubella (MR) vaccine, and this latest tranche will fund ongoing manufacturing scale-up efforts and activities to support a phase 2 trial in infants. David Robinson, Deputy Director, Vaccine Development & Surveillance, Gates Foundation, will join Micron Biomedical’s board as an observer.
The eradication of measles is possible because the measles vaccine is very effective and there is no known animal reservoir of the disease, yet inequitable immunization coverage persists. And a study recently published in The Lancet that involved Micron’s needle-free microarray technology was the first to demonstrate the safety, immunogenicity, and acceptability of a vaccine delivered to children as young as 9 months old via any needle-free microarray technology. The research involved the leading commercially available MR vaccine.
Measles remains a major global health risk that kills an estimated three children per 1,000 that contract the disease, with a disproportionate impact in areas where limited clinicians, refrigeration, and centralized healthcare complicate access to vaccines. Previous Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grants funded the phase 1/2 trial. They financed the development of commercial manufacturing equipment that will produce the MR vaccines globally.
Micron’s technology has been recognized for the potential to achieve a positive global impact and be game-changing in hard-to-reach settings. Along with improving access to vaccines and therapeutics in low- and middle-income countries, Micron’s technology can improve health globally, as the evidence reflects that patient reluctance to receive injectable medicine can lead to delayed therapy, treatment avoidance, and vaccine hesitancy in higher-income countries. The technology’s broad impact includes US national health security and veteran and military health.
KEY QUOTE:
“The continued funding support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to aid our work to increase access to the MR vaccine has been pivotal in Micron Biomedical’s progress toward making lifesaving and life-changing life science innovations more available and accessible. This grant builds on previous funding that helped generate the positive phase 1/2 data that demonstrated our ability to overcome challenges getting preventive treatment to people who currently lack access and will accelerate our efforts toward commercialization so that we can help to make critical pharmaceuticals more easily accessible and available.”
– Steven Damon, CEO of Micron Biomedical
