Economic Evaluation of Microneedles for Vaccinations

In the United States, influenza epidemics cost approximately $87.1 billion annually in which $10.4 billion is attributed to direct medical cost [1]. Nearly 13 million influenza cases occur every year, costing $1.4 billion to third-party payers and $11.3 billion to the society [2]. Despite the recommendation for annual influenza vaccinations, a significant number of people fail to get vaccinated due to their concerns about vaccine effectiveness, adverse reactions, inconvenience, and needle phobia [3,4]. Thus, a novel, cost-effective, minimally invasive, and patient-compliant delivery technology-microneedles (an array of micron-sized solid-coated or polymeric dissolving needles) could address some of these issues [5-7]. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has named this technology the potential “game changer” of global vaccination. Preclinical studies have demonstrated that the use of microneedles could lead to long-lasting, robust antibody response, and improved efficacy of various vaccines against influenza, malaria, Alzheimer’s disease, and measles [8-10]. The usability and acceptability of microneedles were also assessed to reveal that 100% of the public and 74% of the healthcare providers surveyed were positive and showed a strong support for microneedle technology [11,12]. Furthermore, if patients could self-administer vaccines using microneedles, the vaccination intent would increase from 44% to 65% [13].