In this episode of @AuManufacturing Conversations with Brent Balinski, we speak to Dr Angus Forster, CTO of Vaxxas, at the company's Northshore Brisbane factory. He tells us about the plans for the site -- which was officially opened in June -- as well as some of the challenges of bringing biotech products to market.

Episode guide

0:25 - Personal background and work at Vaxxas since 2012. Plus what an explanation of what the company is trying to do.

2:03 – The first patents on the needle-and-syringe go back about 170 years, and weren’t designed specifically for vaccination.

3:10 – What is a microarray patch and what do they do?

4:33 – The advantages of dried vaccines on micro-projections?

5:34 – The large field competing to develop microarray patches for vaccine delivery methods.

7:05 – Scaling up.

9:04 – Types of vaccines in clinical trials currently.

10:24 – What’s special about their new facility.

11:35 – Current schedule for first product to market in 2028. What are some of the challenges?

12:32 – Trying to find a place in the supply chain for vaccine delivery.

14:10 – The difficulties and benefits of remaining in Australia.

15:40 – Preparing the facility to be audited by TGA for Phase 2 and 3 studies and for genuine manufacturing.

17:40 – There’s a desire to build biotech companies, but the amount of time and money isn’t always appreciated.

Relevant links

Vaxxas opens new Brisbane manufacturing facility
Vaxxas raises $34 million for clinical program, increased output
Vaxxas and Aim Lab automate vaccination skin patch production
Vaxxas to begin Covid booster trials in Adelaide this year
Australia’s 50 most innovative manufacturers revealed
Vaxxas moves towards pilot line, Covid clinical trials
Slowly getting closer to the pointy end