Microneedle technology
Instead of two daily injections, imagine the impact on a patient of only having to apply a microneedle patch once each month. This new technology can enhance microneedle technology and improve patient experience.
An alternative to microneedle patches is needed
Many chronic diseases (e.g. dementia, Parkinsonism) need long-term and frequent medication. Patients can find this difficult to manage.
Transdermal microneedle patches help patients to self-medicate in a pain-free way. They also avoid the first-pass effects associated with oral medications, thus increasing bioavailability. This is particularly helpful for biologics which are almost completely degraded in the gastrointestinal tract.
But conventional microneedle patches have some serious shortcomings:
- They release the drug quickly (minutes to hours) and are therefore short-acting, requiring frequent dosing.
- There is a limited selection of materials that can produce microneedles strong enough to puncture the skin yet fluid enough to incorporate the drug uniformly and release it in the skin.
- They can only hold a small amount of the drug, due to drug loading being constrained to the microneedle tips only.
The technology
We have formulated a composite material, named ‘ULTRA’, that provides:
Tuneable mechanical properties
The ULTRA material can exist as a hard or soft material, and can transition between the two. We have formulated ULTRA microneedles for extended drug release targeting the skin. The hard state provides the strength necessary for the ULTRA microneedles to puncture the skin to deliver both small and large molecules like biologics. The transition into a soft, foam-like material allows for optimal drug loading and prolonged, controlled drug release. The microneedles remain stable upon skin insertion over a long duration (days to months), while the body of the microneedle patch acts as a drug reservoir. The combination of these properties greatly extends both the drug load capacity and drug release duration.
Facile manufacturing
The ULTRA microneedle patch can be readily manufactured under mild conditions (e.g. room temperature without harsh solvents). This is important for many drugs especially for labile biologics.
Established biocompatibility, mucoadhesiveness and bioresorbability.
The microneedles can remain in the skin for prolonged periods of time without the need for removal after use.
Applications
The ULTRA material can have many applications where a high load of the cargo and its slow, controlled release are desired.
It will find applications in the pharmaceutical and agricultural sectors.
As a pharmaceutical excipient, the ULTRA material could work in different forms:
- oral formulations
- wearables
- implantables
- injectables
We have used it to achieve a high drug loading capacity and enable extended delivery of individual or multiple therapeutics, both small molecules and biologics, all in a single self-administrable microneedle patch.
The ULTRA microneedle patch could significantly reduce the frequency at which patients need to take their medications. For example, instead of two daily injections of a biologic drug, the patient would self-administer a single ULTRA microneedle patch once a month for the same therapeutic effect