7
System Name
Company
Mechanism
Target
Factors
(all pain ratings are estimates)
AgilePulse
™
BTX
Inject vaccine in dermis
with hypodermic
needle, insert needle
array, apply electric
field to deliver into cells
Dermis
• Large dose
• Reduced pain compared to
other electroporation systems
• Pain 3 out of 10
• High cell transfection
PMED
™
PowderMed
Microscopic particles
coated with DNA,
delivered into cells
using compressed
helium
Epidermis
• Small doses
• Possible tattooing
• Pain 3 out of 10
• Low/Medium cell transfection
Biojector
®
2000 Bioject Medical
Technologies
Inject using CO
2
pressure with spacer
(subcutaneous) or w/o
spacer (to muscle)
Skin or Muscle
• Large doses
• Pain 3 out of 10
• Medium cell transfection
Many (muscle
electroporation)
Many
Inject into muscle insert
electrode and apply
electric field
Muscle
• Large dose
• Significant pain
• Pain 5-6 out of 10
• High cell transfection
Many
Many
Deliver viral vector with
hypodermic needle into
muscle
Muscle
• Immune system reacts to viral
vector, inefficient when
boosting
• Pain 2 out of 10
3.1 Applications
The AgilePulse
™
system is used to deliver DNA vaccines to study the effects and potential of this application for research
purposes only. The AgilePulse
™
system has been shown to increase DNA delivery to cells resulting in
100-1000 times higher protein expression compared to hypodermic needle injection alone (Roos et al., 2006).
The AgilePulse
™
system is typically used to deliver cancer vaccines in doses of 50 µg or more. The AgilePulse
™
system
includes a AgilePulse voltage waveform generator and an Intradermal Array (IDA) electrode used to convert the voltage
to electric fields which deliver the vaccine directly into cells in the skin.
3.2 DNA Vaccine Delivery Methods
There are several methods used to deliver DNA vaccines.
AgilePulse
™
Tutorial
3