Vaccines against the cold chain

Vaccines require continuous refrigeration to retain their efficacy as most vaccine components are derived from mammalian or microbial origin which are thermally unstable. Continuous refrigeration, known as the vaccine cold chain, comes at a cost that directly correlates to the standard of infrastructure that is available. A break in the cold chain caused by poor infrastructure can result in direct loss of functionality in these lifesaving medicines. Therefore, several approaches have been suggested to mitigate these losses. Not only will these benefit general healthcare via improved shelf-life but also enhanced resistance to thermal fluctuations and, in some cases, improved drug target localisation. In this minireview, we highlight trends in vaccine thermal stabilisation and look to the future for cold chain logistics.