PharmaJet To Highlight Benefits Of Needle-free Intradermal Delivery At Medical Conference In Ethiopia

Data reinforces how increased coverage, decreased cost, and acceptability can be achieved with vaccines administered with the Tropis® ID System, the first and only needle-free ID delivery technology to achieve WHO prequalification

By Moses Okello, Bureau Chief, East Africa

A company that strives to improve the performance and outcomes of injectables with its enabling technology, PharmaJet® today announced that they will share the latest routine immunization study results at the 61st Annual Medical Conference and International Health Exhibition to be held on February 21-22, 2025 at the Haile Grand in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Cyber Era NG learns.

We gather that the presentation, entitled Intradermal needle-free vaccine delivery to reduce Ethiopia’s immunization costs and improve coverage, will be presented by Vice President Global Business Development, PharmaJet Paul LaBarre. This event will bring together physicians from across the nation, along with representatives from Ethiopian Medical Association chapter offices, medical specialty societies, medical schools, the Ministries of Health (MoH) and Education, sister health professional associations, and partners.

Intradermal (ID) vaccine administration can enable new vaccine strategies that leverage improved cross-protection, duration of immune response, and mucosal immunity. However, administration to the ID space has been difficult using traditional needle and syringe. Needle-free administration using the PharmaJet Tropis® ID System facilitates ID delivery with improved acceptability and speed of administration. Tropis, which has been used to administer polio vaccinations to more than 10 million children, is the first and only needle-free ID delivery technology to achieve WHO prequalification.tropis,

A recent randomized controlled implementation study in Nigeria1 evaluated the impact on coverage, costs, and acceptability of intradermal fractional inactivated poliovirus vaccine (fIPV) administration using the Tropis compared to the standard of care (SoC – full-dose, IPV intramuscular delivery with needle and syringe). The study demonstrated:

•             Increased coverage: Among those vaccinated with Tropis, IPV2 coverage was 11.2% higher compared to the SoC.

•             Decreased total immunization costs: Incremental savings with needle-free could range from US$0.07 to US$1.00 per dose administered across evaluated scenarios with up to 47% total immunization cost savings compared to SoC at full scale.

•             High acceptability: 94% caregivers reported high acceptability of Tropis. Healthcare worker preference for Tropis over the SoC was 95%. Tropis reduced administration time by five seconds on average compared to the SoC.

“The Nigeria study results demonstrate how using Tropis for routine immunization programs can provide significant benefits at all levels of the healthcare system,” said Vice President of Global Business Development, PharmaJet Paul LaBarre. “Leveraging recent evidence from Tropis use in campaigns and routine immunization in Pakistan,2 Somalia,3 and Nigeria,4 we look forward to working with the Ethiopian Ministry of Health and other African partners to assess the benefits needle-free ID delivery can provide for their immunization programs.”