Researchers at University of Oxford in England have created a first-of-its-kind method to distinguish between authentic and fake vaccines that have entered supply chains.
The World Health Organization has warned about substandard and falsified vaccines appearing in the supply chain, the researchers said, but there are no global screening methods to detect these products.
In a study, the researchers developed and validated a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) workflow using machine learning and statistical analysis to identify authentic and falsified vaccines. The design is similar to instruments used to find bacteria in hospital microbiology labs, according to a news release from the University of Oxford.
They tested vaccines for influenza, hepatitis B virus, meningococcal disease and other viruses, and with the workflow, they found four authentic and eight fake products. The fraudulent vaccines consisted of ingredients including tap water and sodium chloride.
The findings were published Aug. 28 in Nature.