SBIR Phase I: Tagging and Authentication Technology for Vaccines (COVID-19)

这项小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是开发最先进的防伪安全技术，使疫苗制造商能够在整个供应链中标记、跟踪和验证疫苗产品。标签过程将适用于其集成到一个可扩展的玻璃小瓶制造过程。如果需要，可以在标签中嵌入产品、批号、有效期等数字信息。鉴于当前全球COVID-19大流行，整个供应链中疫苗剂量的安全和认证是一项重大的公共卫生和全球物流挑战。业界对疫苗盗窃和假冒产品的担忧促使市场需要有效的身份识别安全技术，使制造商能够以安全、隐蔽和有效的方式对疫苗进行认证。在这个项目中开发的标记过程将使每个疫苗剂型的制造成本增加最小的费用，估计每剂的成本为几美分。这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目将需要完成几个任务，包括：1)标签模式的计算设计，2)可扩展标签过程的开发，3)用于标签认证的仪器和相关软件的开发，以及4)使用数字信息（如批号，有效期，制造位置或任何其他所需产品信息）对标签进行加密。综上所述，标签的具体设计参数将在第一阶段的工作中得到阐明和优化。设计参数随后将使用可扩展的工艺在平板玻璃和玻璃疫苗瓶原型上进行演示。最后，新开发的“读取”仪器将用于验证标记的玻璃原型，展示这种防伪技术的整体效用。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact /commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is the development of a state-of-the-art, counterfeit-proof security technology to enable vaccine manufacturers to tag, track, and authenticate vaccine products throughout the supply chain. The tagging process will be amenable to its integration into a scalable glass vial manufacturing process. Digital information such as product, lot number, expiry, etc. may be embedded into the tags, if desired. In light of the current global COVID-19 pandemic, security and authentication of vaccine dosages throughout the supply chain represents a significant public health and global logistics challenge. Industry concerns over vaccine theft and counterfeit products drive the market need for an effective ID security technology that enable manufacturers to authenticate vaccines in a safe, covert, and efficient manner. The tagging process developed in this program will add minimal expenses to the manufacturing cost of each vaccine dosage form, at an estimated cost of pennies per dose.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will require the completion of several tasks, including: 1) the computational design of the taggant patterns, 2) the development of a scalable tagging process, 3) the development of instrumentation and associated software for tag authentication, and 4) the encryption of tags with digital information such as lot number, expiry, manufacturing location, or any other desired product information. In summary, the specific design parameters of the tag will be elucidated and optimized during this Phase I effort. The design parameters will subsequently be demonstrated on flat glass and glass vaccine vial prototypes using a scalable process. Finally, newly developed “reading” instrumentation will be used to authenticate the tagged glass prototypes, demonstrating the overall utility of this anti-counterfeit technology.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.