"We want to ensure that coronavirus vaccines can be stored at room temperature"

Enrico Mastrobattista conducts research into nanoparticles that can improve the effectiveness and storage conditions of vaccines. The nanoparticles are an essential component of coronavirus vaccines, but they also make it more difficult to distribute the pharmaceuticals because they are generally only stable at low temperatures.

Nanoparticles transport the vaccine into the cell

The current vaccines by Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech contain nanoparticles needed to make the vaccines effective. These particles are responsible for transporting the active component of the vaccine into the muscle cells. “We study, design and test these fatty nanoparticles, which are also used in certain medications”, Mastrobattista explains.

Storing vaccines

As an extension of that knowledge, Mastrobattista also examines how vaccines can be stored. “One of the challenges of these nanoparticles is that they’re mainly stable at low temperatures; at room temperature they can decompose or clump together. The rapid development of the coronavirus vaccines has left little time to optimise this aspect, and at the moment the vaccines have to be stored at temperatures of -70 degrees Celsius. That makes them more difficult to distribute locally. We want to prepare the nanoparticles in such a way that they can be stored at 4 to 8 degrees Celsius.”

Shipping to Africa

The current storage conditions for the Pfizer/BioNTech coronavirus vaccines make them less suitable for distribution around the world. The ultra-cold storage conditions require expensive infrastructure that is not widely available. Even if the vaccines could be stored at freezer temperature in Europe, it would still present a challenge to distributing them in Africa. “Ideally, you could prepare the vaccines so that they can be stored for a year at room temperature. The shelf life of an active substance is much higher when you store it in a solid form, rather than a liquid. One way to do that is by freeze drying. We recommend that research into stability should begin as soon as possible. With a whole team, you could get that done in just a few months.”