Millions of children around the world aren’t vaccinated, partly because it’s expensive and challenging to get vaccines to kids and keep them safely refrigerated on their long journey. Pharmacist Maria Croyle and her team took inspiration from the sweets in her grandma’s candy dish to figure out a new way to stabilize and store vaccines’ live viruses and other biological medicines. They hope their invention can revolutionize how vaccines are shipped and administered – making it far easier, cheaper and less wasteful to vaccinate people just as the race to stave off the COVID-19 virus gets underway.

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Films that dissolve rapidly when placed under the tongue or high in the cheek will make vaccines cheaper and more reliable. Stephen C. Schafer

Vaccines without needles – new shelf-stable film could revolutionize how medicines are distributed worldwide

Maria Croyle, University of Texas at Austin

Inspired by amber and hard candy, researchers figured out a new, needle-free, shelf-stable way to preserve vaccines, making them easier to ship and administer around the world.

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