OSAKA: A startup in the western Japan city of Osaka has succeeded in developing a technology to powder liquid COVID-19 vaccines in large quantities in a short time.

Morimoto Pharma said that the technology would improve production efficiency by 10 times, aiming to put it into practical use next year.

Powdered vaccines can be stored at ordinary temperatures, while liquid vaccines need to be kept at low temperatures, having led to a spate of errors that forced vaccines to be disposed of.

Specifically, the company has developed equipment to continuously manufacture powdered vaccines by spraying liquid vaccines, freezing them in particle state and drying them for one day. It acquired a patent for the process in October last year.

Currently, liquid drugs are freeze-dried in a bottle over a week.

The new technology enables 25 vaccine doses to be contained in a vial, five times more than existing methods.

After receiving vaccine samples from drugmakers, the company plans to examine whether there are any issues with the effectiveness and safety of powdered vaccines.

Morimoto Pharma will set up production facilities at its headquarters, planning to have capacity to supply 20 million vials of powdered vaccines for a total of 100 million shots annually.

“Although Japan lagged behind other countries in the competition to develop COVID-19 vaccines, we want to become a global leader in vaccine production,” comapny president Shuji Morimoto said.

In its strategy to strengthen domestic vaccine production that was adopted in June, the Japanese government included support for the development and production of powdered vaccines.

JIJI Press