Novosanis, a spin-off company from the University of Antwerp, has received the James Dyson Award as a national winner for its VAX-ID device. The device allows for injection in the dermal layer of the skin, which provides a better immune response because of the presence of dendritic cells in the skin.

A team of students and researchers from the University of Antwerp (Product Development and VAXINFECTIO) joint forces with Voxdale, a design and engineering company from Antwerp, to develop VAX-ID. One of the students of the team, Timothi Van Mulder, joint Novosanis as researcher medical development in July 2013. Another student of the team, Ruben Camerlynck, applied for the James Dyson award as the unique device offers a solution to a societal problem, i.e. providing vaccination to developing countries by use of a cost-efficient and easy-to-use device.

Koen Beyers, chief technology officer at Novosanis, “it was a pleasure to inspire Ruben Camerlynck as a student and joining forces with a multidisciplinary team to generate a state-of-the-art device. It has been an exciting process and we are extremely pleased with the products’ unique architecture, smart mechanisms, and use of materials.’’

Novosanis and University of Antwerp are extremely pleased with this prestigious award. The award encourages Novosanis to further develop the VAX-ID device as part of a platform of intradermal injection devices for which the company recently also received a grant from the Institute for Science and Technology Flanders (IWT).

The James Dyson Award is an international design award that celebrates, encourages and inspires the next generation of design engineers. The Award is open to current and recent design engineering students. It’s run by the James Dyson Foundation, James Dyson’s charitable trust, as part of its mission to inspire young people about design engineering.

Novosanis designs and develops medical devices for a variety of applications, ranging from injection appliances to in vitro diagnostic accessories. Novosanis has two devices in its portfolio: VAX-ID, suited for injections of e.g. vaccines in the dermal layer of the skin and Colli-Pee, suited for collection of first void urine for detection of e.g. sexually transmitted infections and cancer.