Bioject Medical Technologies, a developer of needle-free injection systems, has signed a cooperative R&D agreement with the U.S. Navy to use Bioject’s technology in a malaria vaccine the Navy is developing. The agreement is a two-year study that will utilize the Biojector 2000 in human subjects. According to Richard Stout, Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Bioject, the objective of the agreement is to evaluate the Biojector’s efficacy as a delivery device for the malaria vaccine. In a previous study, the Navy found that vaccines delivered via needle-free jet injection systems created a stronger immune response in human subjects than the same vaccine adminstered by needle. The new study will be the US Military Malaria Vaccine Program’s first DNA vaccine trial in over five years.
The Biojector 2000 works by forcing medication at high speed through a tiny orifice held against the skin, causing the medication to penetrate the skin and reach the underlying tissue. The device was introduced in 1993 and is FDA-approved for use in delivering subcutaneous or intramuscular liquid medication. Another Bioject device, the ZetaJet Needle-Free Injection Therapy System, received FDA market clearance in April. ZetaJet is is a compact, spring-powered, needle-free injection device with an auto-disable syringe assembly designed to prevent re-use of the syringe.
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