Jurata Thin Film Announced as BLUE KNIGHT™ Resident QuickFire Challenge Awardee.
AUSTIN, TEXAS. November 2021
Jurata Thin Film, Inc. (“Jurata”) has been selected to join BLUE KNIGHT™, a joint initiative between Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JLABS and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Jurata was selected for this program based on their proprietary thin film technology, developed at the University of Texas at Austin by Dr. Maria Croyle, Professor of Molecular Pharmaceutics and Drug Delivery. Jurata’s thin film technology aims to stabilize vaccines and biologics at room temperature. Furthermore, Jurata’s technology has the potential to deliver vaccines under the tongue using material smaller than a postage stamp.
The commercialization of Jurata’s thin film may greatly increase pandemic preparedness, as their technology aims to simplify vaccine distribution logistics by eliminating the need for cold chain technologies, as well as easing delivery burden on health care workers through needle-free administration of vaccines. Such advancement in pandemic preparedness aligns with the mission of the Blue Knight program.
“Jurata is honored to have been selected to be a Blue Knight company and we look forward to working with Johnson & Johnson Innovation and BARDA. We hope the program will help us in further developing our thin film technology for global preparedness for current and future public health crises,” said Dr. Croyle, who also serves as Jurata’s Chief Scientific Officer.