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New study advances dry mRNA vaccine patch design

RMIT University

New research could help make future mRNA vaccines easier to store and distribute.

The study, involving RMIT University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard Medical School, identified conditions that help protect the particles that carry mRNA in dry vaccine patches, offering practical guidance for future patch design.

Published in Advanced Functional Materials, the study examines what happens to the fragile particles used to carry mRNA when they are dried into the dissolvable material used in microneedle patches. The patches use hundreds of tiny tips to deliver vaccine into the skin as an alternative to traditional injections.

Reducing the need for cold-chain logistics could help remove one barrier to vaccine delivery, particularly in lower-resource settings. In 2024, 14.3 million children globally received no vaccines at all, according to the World Health Organization and UNICEF.

The paper builds on earlier research led by MIT showing the patches could be printed and stored at room temperature using a model mRNA system.

This new study goes further by explaining why some dry patch formulations perform better than others, drawing on RMIT’s materials characterisation expertise, MIT’s work in microneedle and mRNA delivery technologies, and Harvard Medical School expertise in virology and immunology.

Lead author Dr Brendan Dyett from RMIT said the findings represent an important step towards making vaccines easier and cheaper to distribute.

“Many mRNA vaccines need to be stored at very low temperatures, adding cost and complexity to transport and delivery,” Dyett said.

“Our study helps explain how the particles that carry mRNA respond to drying and rehydration, which is an important step towards designing future vaccine patches that are more stable and practical to distribute.”

The team used advanced imaging and X-ray techniques to study particles that carry mRNA before drying, during drying and after rehydration. This allowed the researchers to see how the particles changed through the process and to determine which formulation conditions best preserved their structure and biological activity.

The study found that both the design of the nanoparticles and the amount of polymer used in the patch material influenced how well the particles survived drying and re-dissolving, providing practical guidance for future dry mRNA vaccines and therapies.

Lead researcher RMIT Distinguished Professor Calum Drummond AO said the work could help pave the way for mRNA vaccines and treatments that are more practical to use in a wider range of settings.

“This research is helping build the foundation for microneedle patches that could make advanced vaccines and therapies simpler to use and easier to access,” Drummond said.

“The long-term goal is to support technologies that are not only effective, but practical for the places and communities that need them most.”

Next steps include further optimising the nanoparticle and patch formulations, testing how the design translates to immune responses and exploring whether similar approaches could be applied to other mRNA medicines.

The paper, ‘Exploring an Alternative to mRNA Vaccine Cold Chain Storage: mRNA-Lipid Nanoparticle Stability When Dried in a Polymer Matrix’, is published in Advanced Functional Materials (DOI: 10.1002/adfm.75716).

Organisations interested in partnering with RMIT researchers can contact [email protected].

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