Vaccination against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2
(SARS-CoV-2) and other pathogens with pandemic potential requires safe,
protective, inexpensive, and easily accessible vaccines that can be
developed and manufactured rapidly at a large scale. DNA vaccines can
achieve these criteria, but induction of strong immune responses has often
required bulky, expensive electroporation devices. Here, we report an
ultra-low-cost (<1 USD), handheld (<50 g) electroporation system
utilizing a microneedle electrode array (“ePatch”) for DNA vaccination
against SARS-CoV-2. The low cost and small size are achieved by combining a
thumb-operated piezoelectric pulser derived from a common household stove
lighter that emits microsecond, bipolar, oscillatory electric pulses and a
microneedle electrode array that targets delivery of high electric field
strength pulses to the skin’s epidermis. Antibody responses against
SARS-CoV-2 induced by this electroporation system in mice were strong and
enabled at least 10-fold dose sparing compared to conventional intramuscular
or intradermal injection of the DNA vaccine. Vaccination was well tolerated
with mild, transient effects on the skin. This ePatch system is easily
portable, without any battery or other power source supply, offering an
attractive, inexpensive approach for rapid and accessible DNA vaccination to
combat COVID-19, as well as other epidemics.
An ultra-low-cost electroporator with microneedle electrodes (ePatch) for
SARS-CoV-2 vaccination