Jurata Thin Film announced that it is bringing to market a new technology that allows biologics and vaccines to be packaged, shipped and stored at room temperature for extended periods of time. The reported first-of-its-kind technology enables up to 500 doses of vaccine to be placed on a single wafer-thin, 8.5" x 11" sheet of film, weighing one-hundredth of a pound (5g).

Known as MSI-TX Thin Film, the technology is designed to remove the need for specialized storage containers and -80° C (-140° F) freezers that today are required to ship and store biologics. MSI-TX Thin Film is a proprietary surfactant-stabilized cellulose matrix material, first published in 2015 by Maria Croyle, RPh, PhD, and her laboratory at the University of Texas College of Pharmacy, in Austin, Texas. The film itself, as well as the transfer and reconstitution process have been tested and are now reportedly ready for commercial use.

"This is truly groundbreaking technology that can fill a critical need to meet the packaging and distribution challenges for COVID-19 vaccines," says Dr. Croyle. "Eight thousand uncut sheets of MSI-TX Thin Film can hold more than four million vaccine doses, can be distributed in envelopes through standard shipping methods to anywhere in the world and stored in a two-drawer file cabinet under a desk. Using current technology, this same amount of vaccine would require a 20-foot temperature-controlled container at either -20°C (-4°F) or -70°C (-94°F) to keep the vaccine viable."

In addition, MSI-TX Thin Film allows the same amount of vaccine and other biologics to be delivered at room temperature in less than 1% of packaging volumes presently required, the company says. Large films can be manufactured in about eight hours with therapeutic payload evenly distributed throughout each sheet of film. Films can be produced at any size with a wide range of dosages to elicit the appropriate therapeutic effect. Other reported benefits of the film include:

• No loss in therapeutic potency of film stored at room temperature for up to three years with no need for specialized freezers or refrigeration
• Single dose solutions cut from film can be rehydrated in most widely used solutions in less than 15 minutes
• After rehydration, the therapeutic remains stable for eight months at room temperature
• Regardless of temperature exposure, MSI-TX provides ≥90% viral payload even through multiple freeze/thaw cycles
• Film stability and payload potency remain consistent at extreme temperatures and has been validated at -80º Celsius (-112º F), 37º Celsius (98.6º F) and 60º Celsius (140º F)

Visit www.juratatf.com for more information.