Vaccine Development by Applying Immune Regulation Technology

SNAREVAX™, which was independently developed by Kao, is technology that is expected to promote and change immune responses to antigens by incorporating specific sequences into mRNA-containing nucleic acid vaccines^*1 . Kao is promoting research and development of mRNA pharmaceuticals using this technique jointly with external partner companies in the fields of, for example, allergies that have become worldwide social issues due to the lack of radical treatments.

We have also realized intradermal vaccination with a hollow microneedle^*2 . Immune cells are more abundant in the intradermal sites than in the muscles or subcutaneous sites, and this is expected to enhance the efficacy of vaccines. Intradermal administration requires administering the vaccines into a very shallow site—only about 2 mm under the skin surface—and which makes consistent administration very difficult. However, this has become possible by applying Kao’s sheet processing technology and microfabrication technology.

Under the vision of “protecting future lives,” we will deepen the immune regulation research in the field of life science and promote the development of technology applicable to pharmaceuticals and medical devices.