Noninvasive Detection of Counterfeit and Substandard Vaccines and Biotherapeutics

This project aims to develop a simple, fast, inexpensive, and noninvasive technology and a testing facility to detect counterfeit and substandard vaccines.
Categories
Vaccines
Process control

Industry Need

  • Counterfeit detection technology faces two fundamental limitations: 
  • Invasive analysis, which restricts inspection to a few vials per batch/shipment 
  • Point-of-care detection by end users is not possible; detection is performed by highly trained personnel in labs 
  • Other less fundamental but practical limitations include the cost and lengthiness of the detection. 


Solution

The University of Maryland, Baltimore, aimed to overcome the fundamental limitations of current technologies by creating novel technology to detect counterfeit and substandard medicines.  


This technology has the potential to enable end users, after minimal training, to conduct detection on every vial right before injection. The end-users include healthcare providers and even patients. This transformation is analogous to how cell phones transformed information recording and propagation; almost everyone can do it because the technology is simple, fast, and affordable.

Outputs/Deliverables

  • New temperature-controlled benchtop NMR system with robotic control has been manufactured and installed​
  • Novel noninvasive technology for detection of counterfeit and substandard vaccines and biotherapeutics has been developed​
  • Complex and simple counterfeits of vaccines and biotherapeutics were detected​
  • Quality and substandard vaccines and biotherapeutics were detected​
  • Multivariate wNMR fingerprinting approach has been explored successfully

Additional Project Information (Members Only)

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