Stabilization of vaccines and antibiotics in silk and eliminating the cold chain

Jeney Zhang; Eleanor Pritchard; Xiao Hu; Thomas Valentin; Bruce Panilaitis; Fiorenzo G. Omenetto; David L. Kaplan

doi:10.1073/pnas.1206210109

Edited by Arnold L. Demain, Drew University, Madison, NJ, and approved June 12, 2012 (received for review April 12, 2012)

Abstract

Sensitive biological compounds, such as vaccines and antibiotics, traditionally require a time-dependent “cold chain” to maximize therapeutic activity. This flawed process results in billions of dollars worth of viable drug loss during shipping and storage, and severely limits distribution to developing nations with limited infrastructure. To address these major limitations, we demonstrate self-standing silk protein biomaterial matrices capable of stabilizing labile vaccines and antibiotics, even at temperatures up to 60 °C over more than 6 months. Initial insight into the mechanistic basis for these findings is provided. Importantly, these findings suggest a transformative approach to the cold chain to revolutionize the way many labile therapeutic drugs are stored and utilized throughout the world.

Footnotes

↵¹J.Z. and E.P. contributed equally to this work.
↵²To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: david.kaplan{at}tufts.edu.

Author contributions: J.Z., E.P., F.G.O., and D.L.K. designed research; J.Z., E.P., X.H., T.V., and B.P. performed research; J.Z. and E.P. contributed new reagents/analytic tools; J.Z., E.P., X.H., T.V., B.P., F.G.O., and D.L.K. analyzed data; and J.Z., E.P., X.H., B.P., F.G.O., and D.L.K. wrote the paper.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.
This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1206210109/-/DCSupplemental.