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St Hugh’s Graduate student is lead author of paper identifying method to discover fake vaccines

Yohan Arman, a DPhil student in Biochemistry at St Hugh’s College, University of Oxford, has been working with The Vaccine Identity Evaluation (VIE) collaboration identifying counterfeit (ie fake) vaccines, and has established a method to differentiate between genuine and fake vaccines in a near real-life situation. His work and findings are featured in a recently published scientific article in npi Vaccines, where he is the first author of the paper.

In this study, Yohan explores the use of the globally available device called MALDI-ToF mass spectrometer to analyse the vaccine vial label and its adhesive, and therefore allow genuine vaccine vials to be retained in the supply chain, making it a non-invasive way to check vaccine authenticity. This means that the authenticity validation does not require the vial to be opened, a process which can interfere with the quality of the vaccine constituent, making it unsuitable for clinical use. Yohan discovered that the chemical in the adhesive used in genuine vial labels generates different profiles compared to other labels such as an office stationery label, when analysed using the device. The device is very sensitive at detecting even a slight variation in the chemical. In addition, Yohan also found that vaccines have particular components in their formulation which are detectable by the device, creating something similar to a fingerprint for the vaccine.

Yohan is working closely with international collaborators in Oxfordshire and beyond, the World Health Organization, and the vaccine manufacturer Serum Institute of India.

The study is part of Yohan’s DPhil thesis in the Department of Biochemistry where during the past three years he has been working in the laboratory under direct supervision from Dr Bevin Gangadharan and Professor Nicole Zitzmann. The team is also working to find a cure for COVID-19, exploring compounds potential to kill the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Please visit the Oxford University website here for more information.