WHO Deploys Tropis®, PharmaJet’s Needle-free Injection System in Latest Polio Eradication Campaign in Pakistan

  • PharmaJet Tropis® Needle-free Delivery System used to immunize an additional 1.5 million children in latest WHO campaign.
  • Data from poliovirus campaigns and routine immunizations in Pakistan, Somalia, and Nigeria has demonstrated that Tropis delivery can improve coverage, decrease cost, and increase acceptability.

GOLDEN, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PharmaJet®, a company that strives to improve the performance and outcomes of injectables with its enabling needle-free injection technology, today announced that their Tropis intradermal (ID) delivery system was used in the latest World Health Organization’s (WHO) polio eradication campaign in Pakistan in February 2025. The supplemental immunization activity (SIA) campaign for children between 4 and 59 months of age was implemented in two regions in the Quetta block (Pishin, Quetta, Kila Abdullah, and Chaman) and Karachi (Central Karachi, East, East-Gujro, Keamari, Korangi, Malir, and West). Tropis was used to deliver fractional dose inactivated polio vaccine (fIPV) in parallel to oral polio vaccine (OPV) administration as part of a WHO recommended strategy to boost humoral immunity.




Evidence from Tropis use in poliovirus campaigns and routine immunization in Pakistan,1 Somalia,2 and Nigeria,3 demonstrated improved coverage, acceptability, speed of administration, and cost savings. Previous WHO campaigns that vaccinated over 10 million children in Pakistan and Somalia showed that Tropis is an effective and preferred solution for polio immunization campaigns that can help increase campaign coverage by over 18%.1 In addition, a recent randomized controlled implementation study in Nigeria4 demonstrated that among those vaccinated with Tropis, IPV2 coverage was more than 11% higher compared to those treated with the Standard of Care (SoC). The study team also found potential for up to 47% decrease in total immunization costs and 95% of healthcare workers expressed a preference for Tropis compared with the SoC. Tropis is the first and only needle-free ID delivery technology to achieve WHO prequalification.

“We are pleased to continue our partnership with the World Health Organization to eradicate polio,” said Paul LaBarre, Vice President Global Business Development, PharmaJet. “The Tropis needle-free system has been shown to be very effective and affordable in campaigns and routine immunizations, protecting nearly 12 million children against poliovirus. There is still a lot of work to do, and we are committed to achieving eradication goals so that no child suffers from paralytic polio.”

Refer to Instructions for Use to ensure safe injections and to review risks.

1 Daly, C et al, Needle-free injectors for mass administration of fractional dose inactivated poliovirus vaccine (fIPV) in Karachi, Pakistan: A survey of caregiver and vaccinator acceptability, Vaccine, Volume 38 Issue 8, 18 February, 2020, Pages 1893-1898

2 Nouh, K et al, Use of a fractional dose of inactivated polio vaccine (fIPV) to increase IPV coverage among children under 5 years of age in Somalia, Springer Nature Volume 2 article number 16 (2024)

3 Biya, O et al, Notes from the Field: House-to-House Campaign Administration of Inactivated Poliovirus Vaccine — Sokoto State, Nigeria, November 2022, CDC Morbidity and Mortality Weekly report, November 24, 2023 / 72(47);1290–1291

4 https://pharmajet.com/pharmajet-announces-implementation-study-results-increased-coverage-cost-savings-and-preference-for-routine-polio-immunization-with-tropis-id-needle-free-delivery/

5 Global Polio Eradication Initiative, who we are: https://polioeradication.org/who-we-are/

About PharmaJet

The PharmaJet mission is to improve the performance and outcomes of injectables with our enabling technology that better activates the immune system. We are committed to helping our partners realize their research and commercialization goals while making an impact on public health. PharmaJet Precision Delivery Systems™ can improve vaccine effectiveness, allow for a preferred patient and caregiver experience, and offer a proven path to commercialization. They are also safe, fast, and easy-to-use. The Stratis® System has U.S. FDA 510(k) marketing clearance, CE Mark, and WHO PQS certification to deliver medications and vaccines either intramuscularly or subcutaneously. The Tropis® System has CE Mark and WHO PQS certification for intradermal injections. They are both commercially available for global immunization programs. For more information or if you are interested in partnering with PharmaJet visit https://pharmajet.com or contact PharmaJet here. Follow us on LinkedIn.

About the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI)5

The Global Polio Eradication Initiative is a public-private partnership led by national governments with six partners – the World Health Organization (WHO), Rotary International, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Gates Foundation and Gavi, the vaccine alliance. Its goal is to eradicate polio worldwide.

Launched in 1988 after the World Health Assembly passed a resolution to eradicate polio, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, along with its partners, has helped countries to make huge progress in protecting the global population from this debilitating disease. As a result, global incidence of polio has decreased by 99.9% since GPEI’s foundation. An estimated 20 million people today are walking who would otherwise have been paralyzed by the disease, and more than 1.5 million people are alive, whose lives would otherwise have been lost. Now the task remains to tackle polio in its last few strongholds, and get rid of the final 0.1% of polio cases including the two remaining endemic countries: Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Contacts

Nancy Lillie
Nancy.Lillie@pharmajet.com
1-888-900-4321 Option 3

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