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Vaccine Patch Life Cycle

Assessment
By: Lucy Ostrowski, Gabriella Vasquez, Sebastian Orellana

Table of Contents:

Raw materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Transportation + Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Manufacturing Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Wastes and Emissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Use and Re-Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Recycling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Citations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Raw Materials
A vaccine patch would be made of two main components. The first is an adhesive patch
that would stick to the skin like a bandaid, made up of a flexible material, usually polyethylene or
latex, and an adhesive side, made up of acrylic acid and ester resin. The second main
component of the vaccine patch is the microneedles that contain the actual vaccine. The
microneedles would be made of a water-soluble outer layer that encapsulates the vaccine.
When the needle passes through the skin, the outer layer dissolves, releasing the vaccine into
the dermis. The casing of the microneedles would most likely be made of a polymer, like a
durable sugar.
The polyethylene that makes up the adhesive patch is made from a combination reaction
between ethylene and butene. This polyethylene strip is then layered with acrylic acid and ester
resin to make it adhesive. Acrylic acid is obtained from the catalytic partial oxidation of propene
which is a by-product of ethylene and gasoline production. Acrylic acid does create pollution, for
it leeches out of many products and is found in environments where it is not supposed to be.
Vinyl Ester Resin is considered to be a hybrid of polyester and epoxy resins.
The microneedles would be made up of a water-soluble polymer such as glucose.
Glucose is naturally produced in the body, so it would dissolve without causing intrusion. This
substance is a polymer of disaccharides, which are D-glucuronic acid and
N-acetyl-D-glucosamine. Hyaluronic acid was originally derived from rooster combs when made
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outside of the body, but it can now be made in laboratories by growing bacteria.
The vaccine that is used within the patch will be changeable.

Transportation+Distribution
In order for safe transportation, specific packaging needs to be made. The packaging we
plan to use is specific to the product within it to minimize movement. This means that the
product won’t be able to knock around during transportation, allowing for safer transport. The
specific packaging was also our most eco-friendly option. Other options included bubble wrap,
packaging peanuts, or other cushioning substances, all of which cause excess waste and don't
biodegrade. The specific packaging would cause minimal waste and be biodegradable. The
packaging would include a recyclable cardboard box and an insert made of recycled materials
that holds each specific component of the vaccine.
The recycled insert will be 100% recycled from materials such as cardboard,
newspapers or magazines. After the product and packaging are manufactured, they will be
shipped from the manufacturer to the consumer. The manufacturing and packaging will be done
in the U.S., so shipping and handling will follow that criteria. Shipping requires automobiles and
ships, which require large amounts of fuel (all types of petroleum). This adds on to the cost of
transportation and distribution for this product, and takes a toll on the environmental aspect of
the patch. One main goal of this product is to allow distribution out of the U.S., to provide to
other countries that don’t have access to facilities and administration for traditional vaccinations.
Overall, since this distribution will require a lot of travel, a lot of fuel will be used, causing major
CO2 emissions. To compensate for this, manufacturing and packaging will be as eco-friendly as
possible.
Finding facilities to transport and distribute from will be a future challenge since this
product does not yet exist, but there are many facilities that have abilities to produce similar
products. The facilities should be in multiple locations, so the product will be sent from the
facility closest to the consumer.

Manufacturing processes
The patch itself will be constructed through a two-step manufacturing process. The first
step consists of filling silicone molds with the polymer in order to form the dissolvable
microneedles. The silicon mold will be comprised of the master object (a 3D printed version of
the microneedles), a baseplate, mold wall, the prepolymer and curative, and the release agent.
After 24 hours of curing, the silicone molds are ready to be used. The molds will have a cavity
space of 350 nm cones in order to encapsulate the microneedles correctly (This size allows for
painless piercing of the skin with enough space for the vaccine). These molds will then be filled
with the polymer solution and the chosen vaccination in order to create the water-soluble
outer-layer of the needles. This form of needles ensures a safe transfer into the body. After
centrifugation and drying, a baseplate of just the polymer is added on top to trap the vaccination
inside the needles. The whole product will undergo centrifugation and drying one more time
before it can be removed from the silicon mold. This concludes step one of the manufacturing
process.
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Step two of this process consists of the construction of the adhesive

patch. This patch is made up of multiple layers of different materials. This can be broken down
into the initial layer of structural film, a second layer of non adherent plastic film, an adhesive
coating, a cavity for the microneedles, and a covering layer. The first two layers are made of
polyethylene, polypropylene, vinyl polychloride, foamed polyurethane, non-foamed polyester or
combinations thereof and are bonded together through a covering layer. An adhesive coating of
acrylic acid and ester resin is then applied to the layers. The cavity is then created through
either a hot or cold punching process that permanently shapes the cavity. The microneedles
created in step one are then pressed into the cavity and adhered to the surface, with the sticky
side of the film attaching to the polymer baseplate. The final step is attaching a plastic,
perforated film to safely cover the adhesive side until it is ready to be used. All of these
components would be made in relatively small sizes to match the size of the microneedles. And
with that, our product is manufactured.

The energy in the manufacturing process is mechanical and thermal energy and would come
from machines mass producing these small components and putting them together correctly.
Energy would also come from human based work to make sure there are no faulty products.
The waste would be from any faulty components, which will hopefully be minimal. Our product
already has less waste than conventional methods, and with such small parts, faulty
components won’t quickly add up. Some potentially problematic materials could be the silicon
molds (breakage or even small chips will ruin the product), incorrect procedure of creating the
water soluble microneedles (If they do not form correctly, the whole batch would need to be
discarded), and the adhesive (If the polyethylene is cured incorrectly, the layers with it applied
would also have to be discarded).

Wastes + emissions
Most waste created during manufacturing, transportation/distribution, and administration
will not be reusable or recyclable. In manufacturing, all waste will be made from faulty
components (such as the silicon mold, incorrectly cured microneedles, and non-adhesive
patches) and cannot be used, meaning they will be discarded. In transportation, the packaging
will be recyclable and not contribute to waste, yet the distribution will be heavy in pollution. In
administration, the needles are dissolvable but the adhesive patch will contribute to the overall
waste. These forms of waste will need to be shipped to a landfill through a vehicle. The
emissions will be caused through steam and pollution from machines during manufacturing,
added GHG emissions in the landfills, and large CO2 admissions through distribution.

These products will most likely sit in a landfill and contribute to GHG emissions. Some may be
burned down into usable materials, but will contribute high levels of CO2 and more GHG
emissions. Most waste in the manufacturing process will be a biohazard and will need proper
handling. Pollution will be admitted throughout our process due to machines and vehicles, but is
a cheaper option. Our contribution to eco-friendliness is through our product creating much less
waste than conventional methods as well as our recyclable packaging.
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Use and re-use

This vaccine patch is used by applying the adhesive patch to the upper arm, similarly to
where a traditional vaccine is given. The adhesive patch sticks to the skin and the microneedles
penetrate the top surfaces of the derma. When the microneedles go into the skin, the
water-soluble outer layer dissolves. When that dissolves, the vaccine is released into the skin,
which then transfers to the bloodstream and immune system.
This patch is not reusable because the sugar-like water soluble microneedles dissolve
and a patch is therefore useless after one use. The patch itself will also not be adhesive after
one use so re use would be impossible. Also, it is a safety precaution to make the vaccine not
reusable because it would be unsafe to provide more than one use to the patient.

Recycling
This patch itself cannot be recycled because it is made of materials such as
polyethylene. Polyethylene is a plastic that cannot be recycled. On top of that, the microneedles
dissolve, so those can’t be recycled either. While they can’t be recycled, they cause no waste
since they dissolve into the body.
The packaging is 100% recyclable. This means that its materials can be reused in the
system. The packaging is made of recycled paper products. Due to the fact that the materials in
the patch are recyclable, it seemed obvious to us that the packaging should be recyclable.
Overall, the materials that do not come in contact with the skin are recyclable. Think of it like a
bandaid, where the part that comes in contact with a wound is not recycled, but the box and
paper slips can. The packaging would be recycled into more paper products.
Citations:
​https://biotextiles2016.wordpress.com/group-1/
https://www.verndariinc.com/news/15
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4871790/
https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~rapidproto/manufacturing/molds/silicone.html
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17425247.2018.1522301
https://omnexus.specialchem.com/selection-guide/polyethylene-plastic#:~:text=Polyethylene%2
0is%20a%20lightweight%2C%20durable,plastic%20parts%2C%20laminates%2C%20etc​.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/chemistry/acrylic-acid
https://www.fibreglast.com/category/Vinyl_Ester_Resins
https://www.freepatentsonline.com/y2007/0078365.html
https://www.ecoenclose.com/
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0753332217324149
https://engineering.cmu.edu/news-events/news/2020/04/07-microneedle-array.html