Anti-Vaping Addiction System (AVAS)

AVAS is a prescribed aerosol alternative to addiction medication for nicotine and will utilize a low-cost, efficient medical device made from biodegradable plastics that delivers concentrated doses of medication.

AVAS itself is split up into three main parts that will be utilized throughout the treatment period: the cartridge called “aPods,” the delivery system, and the PLA mask. aPods will follow a specific design customized to the patient’s dosage determined by factors like sex, weight, etc. The cartridges will have various concentrations of neurotransmitter inhibitors and respiratory supplements to match the current level of addiction. There are three different types of cartridges that will aid treatment based on severity: bupropion, varenicline, and both. Additionally, the medication will include corticosteroids for respiratory support, inhibitors to stop neurotransmitter absorption, and propellants to deliver the aerosol. Heating will be used to administer medication.  

Additionally, the cartridges will be single-use only and contain enough solutions for one day. aPods will fit into the bottom of the delivery system, which is composed of a long rectangular body followed by a makeshift mask that allows for guided delivery. These devices will accommodate for all different concentrations and will siphon enough medicine for three inhales per day. After use, AVAS will be locked for a full 24 hours until it is safe to continue use, in order to protect patients from further drug abuse. 

A single vape cartridge is equivalent to 220 minutes lost from a human’s lifespan, ravaging populations around the globe like a disease of its own. E-cigarette use is one of the world’s largest issues, causing a myriad of issues ranging from mental health disorders to cancer. In particular with the COVID-19 pandemic, the need to potentially eliminate vaping has only increased in demand. According to the CDC, nearly one in five high school students were currently using e-cigarettes and 85% of students were reported to use tobacco products 30 days after using a similar product in 2020. In addition, nearly 9 out of 10 adults who routinely smoke cigarettes are first introduced to smoking by the end of high school, along with 99% of those adults primarily trying tobacco by age 26. Evidently, vaping is extremely prevalent throughout America, being the most commonly used tobacco product among youth since 2014 stated by Truth. Vaping companies saw record highs in their vape pod sales and vape pens in 2020, adjacent to the prevalence of depression and anxiety among teens doubling. Data shows that vaping exasperates anxiety and depression, doubles the likelihood to become diagnosed with a mental health condition, and increases ADHD levels. A study done in 2021 found that 78% of those vaping before the COVID-19 pandemic were either vaping the same amount or more while 70% of peers see no change or an increase in vape users when returning to in-person learning. With conditions worsening, a solution is needed. 

In 2021, approximately 11.8% of Black Americans did not have insurance to pay for medical bills or medication during the COVID-19 pandemic. Similarly, within the first half of 2021, almost a quarter of Hispanic Americans did not have reliable access to healthcare in order to pay for treatments or medical bills. That coupled with the 13.4% of Americans being under the poverty line or around 43 million individuals, the majority being people of color or those from disadvantaged backgrounds, led AVAS to consider how to make its products cheaper for its customers. Our team kept in mind the socioeconomic status of people of color in America and how certain educational systems that lacked funding due to strong minority populations led to high drug use and addiction rates. A study done in 2019 to 2020 by TruthInitiative found that 4% of African American high school students were continuously using nicotine and tobacco products in comparison to the 5% rate of high school vape users that were actively using. AVAS decided to utilize cheap but effective medication in order to ensure that the product itself would cause no harm to customers but will still be as effective as expensive drugs on the market. The final price on the market will be $37.38 for bupropion, $38.64 for varenicline, and $37.94 for dual medication; all prices listed are without medical insurance or aid from local addiction clinics.

AVAS has fully utilized the resources available in the Innovation Lab at Edward's high school, IMSA, to gain support and also create a business venture for the product. Using specific faculty at IMSA, certified institutions, and published papers, the product has grown into a feasible object capable of entering the market. aPods contains many ingredients that perform selected tasks: an antiseptic needed to keep a sterile environment (benzalkonium chloride), antibiotics that will support the lung’s immune cells (roxithromycin), a corticosteroid that will strengthen the lung for breathing and reduce inflammation (beclomethasone dipropionate), a propellant to produce aerosols (1,1,1,2 tetrafluoroethane or HFA-134a), inhibitors to stop the absorption of neurotransmitters into nerves (bupropion/varenicline), and heliox to make transference into the body easier. These chemicals were found from the open source material in addition to faculty help that led to a definitive drug cocktail. Our product was able to have a working delivery system with a PLA mask to guide doses of medication by using chemical properties (heliox, heating system, gas laws) and mechanical interworking (using computer science to release amounts of aerosols and guide medication using PLA mask). 

Furthermore, our business has utilized many sources from Truth, a non-profit organization dedicated to stopping the vaping epidemic of American youth. Currently, we are in the process of communicating with the organization and hope to utilize their platform as the new frontier for anti-nicotine treatments. 

While AVAS has mainly completed all of its theoretical research, figuring out the chemical formula for treatment, material cost for product, and technical component for its success, nothing has been tested yet. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the lack of funding/resources we had, AVAS has not been able to properly conduct trials for proof of its feasibility. With this being said, however, our team has consistently focused its goals towards accomplishing everything we can now so that when we do receive resources, we can maximize our time. 

On chemical front, we utilized past research and chemical models for treatments to create our own drug cocktail that is both multi-faceted in its reach of organ systems and positive effects in the body. We analyzed different chemical reactions between steroids, inhibitors, and antiseptics to ensure no harm would occur during treatment. Furthermore, we have developed a working CAD model that has the dimensions of the model and the different parts that compose AVAS. The product also has all costs and revenue models completed for release: Each cartridge pack will contain 14 aPods that will cost $0.70 for the bupropion concentration, $1.96 for the varenicline concentration, and $1.26 for a combination concentration.

Behind our product, there will be two main fronts that contains core technology needed to create a successful treatment for vaping addictions. On one hand, we will be using mechanical and chemical engineering to manufacture these products to be successful in delivery, accurate in doses, and efficient in pathways. Using laboratory research in the past as well as current information from the American Association of Aerosol Research, AVAS has a unique chemical formula for its treatment that includes a multi-faceted approach to detoxifying the body and strengthening the respiratory tract. Additionally, the delivery system body and mask will utilize PLA (Polylactic Acid) plastic that is a thermoregulatory, biodegradable material that is cheap to use. Thermoregulation of the body is extremely important as AVAS will use a heating system fueled by the body temperature of the hand to make the aerosol rise into the PLA mask when released from the aPod. This plastic will be essential to maintaining the price of the product while making sure its carbon footprint is minimal. 

The other front will be through computational analysis and drug design using CADD (Computer-Aided Drug Design) software. In terms of CADD, we will be using free programs such as Maestro, BIOVIA Discovery Studio Visualizer, and CHARMM-GUI to run simulations and compute hits with the drug dissolution. After, PsychoPy, DDSolver, and RStudio will be used to analyze drug dissolution data into formats that are understandable to investors and will be easy to visualize effectiveness of drug.

As of now, there are approximately 1 in every 20 Americans who actively use vape pens with around 33% of those vape users being high schoolers. More than 2 million high schoolers are susceptible to SUDs (Substance Use Disorders) and an estimated 55 million overall currently suffer from unintended effects of nicotine addiction in the world. As this epidemic progresses and more develop respiratory and developmental issues, especially in the pandemic, the target audience grows and a cure is needed.

Current medication on the market can give an estimated count of how many potential buyers we can have for AVAS. With Chantix, one of the highest-selling products for nicotine addiction, around 13 million individuals utilize this prescribed medication for addiction aid. Applying these statistics to our product, we estimate around a 20 million potential target audience for this vaping epidemic with a focus on the 2 million teens in the US that consistently vape. Especially with the elevation of our success rate, we are predicting that many users of these non-effective treatments will convert over, being more affordable and accurate. 

AVAS has one main mission with the products that we are releasing: to provide a comprehensive cure to vaping addiction towards disadvantaged youth that will provide a healthier future for those individuals. Our team leaders, Shirley and Edward, unfortunately, lost a family member due to nicotine abuse which led to lung cancer. The number of dangerous chemicals that are found in vape juice can lead to a myriad of disorders that will worsen conditions in the body. However, AVAS plans to make a difference.

We will be the first product to effectively release a treatment plan that will aid in independence from nicotine, healing and boosting tissues/muscles in the respiratory tract, and focus on the mental health of our patients during treatment. We want to place a focus on high schoolers in the US where vaping epidemics run high and daily cases of SUDs consistently rise. By focusing on this population, we can effectively plateau the number of cases that utilize vaping (with the youth being thwarted in using drugs) while also stopping others from abusing more dangerous drugs (vape pens are commonly noted as gateway drugs to chemicals like opioids).

We have three main benchmarks that we will utilize in this first stage to make sure that we have completed a definitive product. Our team has completed the first goal which is to create a theoretical formula that has all of the benefits we designed the drug to have while also backing the stuff with research from past years. We have also used CAD to create a model of the product which has all been done virtually independently. This first goal allowed us to apply to competitions and grants that will hopefully help us enter the next benchmark and complete it. 

Next, if we are given funding, we are going to utilize lab trials to ensure that the simulation predictions match real-world results. We want to ensure that the product will work the way we designed it to and so, the next benchmark will be to complete trials and to prove that the vial works. The final benchmark of this stage is the publish our findings and organize our technicalities so that we can submit this product to the FDA for approval and pharmaceutical companies so that we can manufacture the drug. The final stage for ensuring our success will be releasing the drug to the public and seeing the effect it takes on students, hopefull raising the success rate of the average pill form (33-50%) to 60%<.

Currently, we are looking to utilize a wet lab to conduct research but also work on ensuring our formula is effective and safe for use. COVID-19 and the pandemic have greatly inhibited the amount of work we were able to complete and so, most of the work we have done is theoretical and computer run. We plan to find a lab that will give us, the AVAS team, the freedom to work with researchers to gain insight and mentorship while also allowing us to test trials that we feel are efficient. However, funding has been a large issue. AVAS has applied to multiple grants in trying to receive funding but we never had the data we had back then, until now. AVAS has created a theoretical formula using CADD and DDSolver using computer simulations of drug dissolutions. Now, we are looking for funding and a wet-lab that will allow us to conduct research in an in person setting, with the freedom and the mentorship to create a feasible product. 

AVAS’s (Anti Vaping Addiction System) team is composed of a junior from the Chicagoland suburbs attending the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy (IMSA) and a middle schooler at Gregory Middle School. Both Edward and Shirley have an affinity to neurology and drug design within their personal times and noticed a large issue after a discussion with a health professional. Mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic became a huge area of concern for both students as remote learning and isolation had exacerbated the mental health crisis existing today. Looking at the specific causes of this endemic led to only one dangerous source: vaping abuse. Organizations and recognized institutions found that the pandemic doubled the prevalence of anxiety and depression before COVID-19 and that vaping sales had reached an all-time high in 2020 alone. Keeping in mind the loved ones both teammates lost to addiction, a project was started to create a comprehensive aid to vaping addictions.

AVAS is now a fully-fledged business project at IMSA’s IN2 laboratory that is currently applying for funding to conduct research and proposing to enter the pharmaceutical market. The system contains a drug cocktail that utilizes nicotine inhibitors, corticosteroids, antibiotics, and propellants that utilize the respiratory tract in contrast to other prescription medications to limit systemic toxicity and increase the concentration of doses with each breath. Edward focuses on computational chemistry and drug design as an aerosol drug while Shirley directs her attention to the business model and drug delivery technology using CAD. Both members strive to achieve the goal of advancing solutions towards vaping addictions and hopefully, improve the mental health of individuals in the pandemic moving forward.

We are working on partnering with Truth to ensure that anti-vaping addiction campaigns can promote our product and so we can join their cause in battling addicition.

We are also planning on working with international anti-vaping organizations and local addiction clinics to provide more care to disadvantaged communities.