Solid dose formulations for needle-free delivery

1. A solid dose formulation having a compressive strength of at least about 80 MPa for needle-free delivery comprising:

0.01%-25.0% (w/w) of at least one therapeutic and/or prophylactic agent;

at least 25.0% (w/w) of dextran; and

at least 50% (w/w) of at least one, or combination of two or more, different excipients, excluding dextran.

2. The solid dose formulation according to claim 1 , wherein the excipient or excipients are selected from the group consisting of trehalose, mannitol and CMC.

3. The solid dose formulation according to claim 1 , further comprising at least 0.5% (w/w) of a lubricant.

4. The solid dose formulation according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one therapeutic and/or prophylactic agent is an immunogen.

5. The solid dose formulation according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one therapeutic and/or prophylactic agent is a biological or chemical preparation selected from the group consisting of a vector, a protein, a protein subunit, DNA, RNA, a toxoid or a polysaccharide-antigen conjugate, and a checkpoint inhibitor.

6. The solid dose formulation according to claim 1 , wherein the solid dose formulation comprises dextran in the range of 40-99%.

7. The solid dose formulation according to claim 1 , wherein the dextran is selected from a grade with a mean molecular weight between 10 kDa and 110 kDa.

8. The solid dose formulation according to claim 1 , wherein the dextran selected includes 0.5% to 6% (w/w) water.

9. The solid dose formulation according to claim 1 , wherein the solid dose formulation is a tablet or micro tablet, and/or is elongated.

10. The solid dose formulation according to claim 1 , wherein the solid dose formulation has a length to width ratio from 2:1 to 6:1.

11. The solid dose formulation according to claim 1 , wherein the solid dose formulation has a width from 0.5 mm to 2 mm and a length from 1.7 to 12 mm.

12. The solid dose formulation according to claim 9 , wherein the tablet or micro tablet has a pointed tip with an internal angle of between 22.5° and 90°.

13. The solid dose formulation according to claim 1 , further comprising one or more of methionine, cysteine, histidine, citric acid, sodium chloride, sodium hydroxide, hydrochloric acid, potassium chloride, tween-20, tween-40, tween-60, tween-80, albumin, mannitol, trehalose, sucrose, sodium carboxymethylcellulose salt, or a combination thereof.

14. The solid dose formulation according to claim 3 , wherein the lubricant is magnesium stearate.

15. The solid dose formulation according to claim 1 , wherein the formulation further comprises CMC, in the range of 10-50% (w/w) and 9-39% (w/w) mannitol.

16. A method of treatment or prevention of one or more diseases or disorders, the method comprising:

providing a solid dose formulation having a compressive strength of at least about 80 MPa for needle-free delivery comprising:

0.01%-25.0% (w/w) of at least one therapeutic and/or prophylactic agent;

at least 25.0% (w/w) of dextran; and

at least 50% (w/w) of at least one, or combination of two or more, different excipients, excluding dextran; and

using a needle-free delivery device, administering a therapeutically-effective amount of said solid dose formulation to a patient.

17. The method of treatment or prevention of one or more diseases or disorders of claim 16 wherein the disease or disorder is selected from the group consisting of: cancer, yellow fever, rabies, diphtheria, tetanus, haemophilus influenza type B (Hib), pertussis, pneumococcal diseases, meningococcal diseases, human papilloma viruses (HPV), HTV, HSV2/HSV1, influenza types A, B and C, para influenza, polio, RSV, rhinoviruses, rotaviruses, hepatitis A, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), anthrax, gastroenteritis, enterovirus diseases, measles, mumps, varicella zoster, glandular fever, respiratory diseases, rubella, human T-cell lymphoma type I (HTLV-I), hepatitis B, hepatitis C, hepatitis D, poxvirus diseases, cholera, Japanese encephalitis, zika, chikungunya, bat lyssavirus, Q fever, rift valley fever, hendra virus, tularaemia, nipah virus, lassa fever, typhoid fever, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever, ebola, plague and shigella, or against veterinary diseases, comprising foot and mouth disease serotypes O, A, C, SAT-1, SAT-2, SAT-3 and Asia-1, coronavirus, bluetongue, feline leukaemia, avian influenza, hendra and nipah virus, pestivirus, canine parvovirus, and bovine viral diarrhoea virus.

18. The method of treatment or prevention of one or more diseases or disorders of claim 16 wherein the solid dose formulation further comprises:

at least 0.5% (w/w) of a lubricant;

one or more of methionine, cysteine, histidine, citric acid, sodium chloride, sodium hydroxide, hydrochloric acid, potassium chloride, tween-20, tween-40, tween 60, tween-80, albumin, mannitol, trehalose, sucrose, sodium carboxymethylcellulose salt, or a combination thereof;

wherein the at least one therapeutic and/or prophylactic agent is a biological or chemical preparation selected from the group consisting of a vector, a protein, a protein subunit, DNA, RNA, a toxoid or a polysaccharide-antigen conjugate, and a checkpoint inhibitor, and

wherein the excipient or excipients are selected from the group consisting of trehalose, mannitol and CMC.

19. The method of treatment or prevention of one or more diseases or disorders of claim 16 wherein the solid dose formulation is a tablet or micro tablet having a pointed tip with an internal angle of between 22.5° and 90°.

20. A method of vaccinating a patient against one or more diseases or disorders, the method comprising:

providing a solid dose formulation having a compressive strength of at least about 80 MPa for needle-free delivery comprising:

0.01%-25.0% (w/w) of at least one therapeutic and/or prophylactic agent;

at least 25.0% (w/w) of dextran; and

at least 50% (w/w) of at least one, or combination of two or more, different excipients, excluding dextran; and

using a needle-free delivery device, administering a therapeutically-effective amount of said solid dose formulation to a patient.