Date: 2014-08-13
Type of information: Grant
Company: Novosanis (Belgium)
Investors: Flemish Agency for Innovation by Science and Technology (IWT) (Belgium)
Amount: € 0.25 million
Funding type: grant
Planned used: Novosanis, a spin-off company from the University of Antwerp, has received funding from IWT for its research on \"component platform for the development of injection devices for various intradermal applications.\" The goal is to develop an injection device that can be used in an accurate, safe and reliable manner for the patient as well as the end user. Fields of application can be found in both preventive and curative health care. The devices inject into the dermis, or the upper layer of the skin under the epidermis. Intradermal injection provides a better immune response because of the presence of dendritic cells in the skin. That’s why, a smaller amount of antigen is required compared to intramuscular administration. One of the goals of the innovation projects to develop a device that enables vaccination at a larger scale because less vaccine antigen is needed for each injection. However, when injecting too deep (I.e. in the fat layer) the active substance will lose its effect and a too superficial injection will cause leakage. In both cases, the vaccine will no longer have the desired result. Thanks to this IWT grant, Novosanis will be able to conduct thorough research with regard to skin thickness, needle gauges, reservoirs and materials for its devices. This investigation will require close cooperation with academic partners such as Vaxinfectio (UAntwerpen) and MIRC (KULeuven). Novosanis was founded last year in March and is led by a complementary management team: Vanessa Vankerckhoven, CEO and Koen Beyers, CTO. Vanessa has expertise in vaccinology and microbiology, in addition to medical devices, such as injection devices, in vitro diagnostics and point of care diagnostics, she holds a PhD in medical sciences. Koen holds a Master in Product development and is an expert in concept and idea formation, product development, design optimization and rapid prototyping. Since July 2013, two researchers joined the team and have experience in (1) product development, engineering and mechanics, and (2) (pre) clinical trials and injection techniques.
Others: * On August 13, 2014, the Institute for Science and Technology (IWT) has granted Novosanis 250,000 euros in support of an SME innovation project that aims to develop devices suitable for intradermal injection in adults.
Therapeutic area:
