DESIGN AND EVALUATION OF A MICRONEEDLE PLATFORM FOR ENCAPSULATED CELL-BASED DELIVERY OF SARS-COV-2 MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES

Abstract

This thesis focuses on design and evaluation of a microneedle (MN) platform for the localized delivery of SARS-CoV-2 monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) via encapsulated cells. Stable HEK293 cell line secreting SARS-CoV-2 mAbs were encapsulated in alginate microcapsules which then were embedded into PVA/gelatin MN patch. The patch was designed using CAD modeling and optimized through finite element analysis. Mechanical testing confirmed high insertion efficiency and structural integrity under physiological loads. Microcapsules demonstrated average diameter of 330.26 ± 52.99 μm, and uniform spherical morphology under optical microscopy and SEM. Biological assays demonstrated that microencapsulation preserved cell viability for up to 14 days, and released significant amounts of SARS-CoV-2 mAbs (115.89±30.86 ng/106 cells). The MN patch showed cell viability of only ~50%, and significantly lower but detectable antibody levels (27.50± 11.30 ng/106 cells). Although the final system was dissolvable, and differed from original design, the results support the potential of MN based delivery of therapeutic molecules and highlight the opportunity for further development using crosslinked polymers and custom-fabricated molds