A Molecular ‘Soccer Net’ Can Keep Life-Saving Drugs Stable
Much of the Western world was introduced to the promise (and peril) of cold chains—supply chain networks that keep products cool or frozen during storage and shipping—during the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, when suppliers struggled to deliver mRNA shots to those who needed them while keeping the jabs at their required sub-zero temperatures.
But cold chains also pose a hurdle for people around the globe to access other life-saving drugs and vaccines. Products like insulin, cancer drugs, and diagnostic enzymes need cold chains, too, and vast global disparities limit countries’ cooling infrastructure.
Luckily, a team of molecular engineers from ETH Zürich and Colorado-based startup Nanoly Bioscience have developed a new method of keeping drugs, enzymes, vaccines, and entire viruses stable without the need for a cold chain. Their technique stabilizes these products for weeks at a time with a hydrogel that can be switched off by adding a sugar. The method, detailed in a study published on Friday in Science Advances, could one day shake up the multibillion-dollar cold chain logistics industry.
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