Microneedle Patch Technologies

Microneedles can usually be defined as needles with sizes ranging from 10-2000 μm * 10-50 μm(H * W). The drug delivery device is a microneedle array, where many microneedles are arranged in an array on a drug delivery vehicle. The microneedles can directly pass through the cuticle of the skin without touching the pain nerve, forming a drug delivery channel on the skin surface, so that the drug can reach the specified depth of the skin, enter the subcutaneous capillary network and be absorbed, promoting the drug penetration without causing pain or skin damage. Thus, microneedling helps to improve the efficiency of drug delivery and improve patient compliance.

Fig. 1 Schematic diagram of microneedle. (Zhan et al., 2023)

Microneedle Patch Technology Services

CD Formulation can provide customers with a variety of microneedle preparation services, the following are different types of microneedle technology.

• Phase-transition Microneedle Patch Technology
• Hydrogel Microneedle Patch Technology
• Solid Microneedle Technology
• Hollow Microneedle Technology
• Coated Microneedle Technology
• Dissolving Microneedle Technology

In addition to microneedle patch technology, we also provide microneedle preparation process and microneedle performance testing services, so that we can provide you with the most suitable services in all aspects.

Microneedle Preparation Process

1. Industrialization of microneedle products

Whether the production process can break through the bottleneck of mass production is the first step towards commercialization of microneedle products and the core of the company's price competitiveness. With further expansion of production lines, greater capacity can be achieved.

2. Microneedle drug delivery volume

Compared to small molecule drugs, large molecule drugs, especially antibodies, often require delivery of higher doses (microgram level and milligram level) to achieve the desired therapeutic effect. Due to the instability of most biomolecules in vitro and in vivo, it is difficult to load higher concentrations or higher doses of drugs on top of conventional polymeric microneedles. Therefore, the size of drug loading capacity is a hard criterion for microneedle manufacturing companies.

3. Microneedle production process quality standards

Most biomolecule drugs are less stable and require a gentle preparation process even when protective agents are added. Different active ingredients can be used to prepare a viable microneedle product (sufficient puncture, smooth release of drug into the body, etc.) and thus diversify the development of microneedle products.

Advantages of Microneedle Technology

Microneedle drug delivery can achieve slow and controlled release function, which can be used for transdermal delivery of small molecules, biologics, vaccines, intracellular DNA/RNA, etc. Vaccines, diabetes, dermatology, and medical aesthetics are the main research directions of microneedle at this stage. As a new type of transdermal drug delivery method, microneedle drug delivery method combines the advantages of subcutaneous injection drug delivery and transdermal drug delivery method, which is not only painless and minimally invasive, but also safe and highly efficient in drug absorption.

The most important advantages of microneedle drug delivery system are:

• Enables penetration of large molecules into the stratum corneum.
• Almost non-invasive, painless, and highly compliant drug delivery by microneedle.
• Easy to use, stable and controllable dose.
• High bioavailability and low cost, equivalent to subcutaneous injections.
• Patients can self-administer the drug, convenient and safe.

If you would like our technical support, please feel free to contact us and we will customize a solution just for you.