DynaShield – A Broadly Applicable Biomolecule Stabilization Platform

To respond efficiently to pandemics and disease outbreaks, the healthcare system requires efficient packaging and shipping processes for temperature-sensitive research materials and treatments. The World Health Organisation estimates that more than 50% of vaccines are wasted globally every year due to temperature control, logistics and shipment-related issues. The global biopharma industry loses about $35 billion annually as a result of failures in temperature-controlled logistics. The cost of cold chain maintenance for biotherapeutics was US$8.4B in 2015, nearly doubled to US$16B in 2019 and is expected to reach $21.3 billion by 2024. About $5 billion will go toward packaging costs . Remedial solutions exist such as wet/dry ice carriage, storage in stationary or portable refrigeration systems, and costly electronic monitoring of shipments. However, it has been reported that shipping products on dry ice is associated with a 15-30% product failure rate. To compound the challenges, dry ice can be a serious hazard in enclosed spaces that are not properly ventilated. There are other published technologies that can stabilize non-enveloped (naked) virions, but these technologies are not commercially scalable. There are currently no known scalable technologies that can be used to dry and stabilize enveloped viruses for a meaningful timeframe. In response, Nanoly Bioscience Inc, a start-up materials technology company that was founded by a group of material scientists from the University of Colorado, has developed a low-cost, biocompatible polymer network that will revolutionize biomedical/protein storage, transport and stability. Our proprietary innovation, DynaShield, is a breakthrough excipient that consists of a polymer material that can stabilize research/human samples, vaccines, and other therapeutics utilizing viral vectors, thereby eliminating the need for dry ice or liquid nitrogen during shipping. We have identified the Air Force Research Lab and the AF Medical Services as some of the potential customers for our solution. Our potential primary end-users are the clinical microbiologists and technicians at the USAF School of Aerospace Medicine’s (USAFSAM) Epidemiology Lab, which is the sole clinical reference lab in the USAF and part of the 711th Human Performance Wing at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. The lab focuses on clinical diagnostics, public health testing and force health screening, performing 5,000 to 8,000 tests per week and capable of processing over 2,000 samples per day. Since early March, 2020, the USAFSAM’s Epidemiology Lab has tested and processed over 130,000 COVID-19 samples, which constitutes 17% of all samples that have been tested across the DoD . Other potential end-users include the 31st Medical Group and the 51st Medical Group. The DynaShield technology has several potential uses in the USAF, from combat support, intelligence/surveillance, space systems support, scientific and medical applications.