nanoBioSciences is a small company out of Alameda, California that has developed a proprietary drug delivery patch system, dubbed AdminPatch, based on tiny microneedles form pressed out of standard metallic film. The company just attended SVOD (Silicon Valley Open Doors) 2008 meetup with venture capital firms to seek out investments to support final product development and future regulatory approvals.
From the technology info page:
The AdminPatch system is an advanced microneedle transdermal delivery technology that painlessly and instantaneously forms hundreds of tiny aqueous channels (‘micropores’) through the stratum corneum and epidermis, the outer resistive surface layers of skin. Proteins and water-soluble molecules can enter the body through these aqueous micropores for either local effect, or by entering the circulation, for systemic effect. The created aqueous channels stay constantly open while AdminPatch is applied on the skin and, therefore, enable the rapid, sustained, and efficient delivery of drugs through these aqueous channels formed in the skin surface.
The AdminPatch system is comprised of a single-use disposable AdminPatch and a re-useable handheld Applicator. The disposable AdminPatch contains the proprietary microneedle array laminated on a conventional transdermal drug-in-adhesive patch.
AdminPatch is based on the proprietary microneedle shape which is developed by nanoBioSciences LLC. First, the proprietary microneedle shape allows continuous delivery of drugs when the microneedle is inserted in the skin. Second, the microneedles are formed from a standard metal film which allows very robust and inexpensive manufacturing of the AdminPatch. Third, a conventional transdermal drug-in-adhesive patch is simply laminated on the back surface of the microneedles.
The aqueous channels formed by the microneedles in the stratum corneum using the AdminPatch system have a depth of about 100 microns, sufficient to extend through the viable epidermis but shallow enough to avoid the dermis and any pain receptors.
When the transdermal patch with microneedles is removed from the skin, the micropores simply collapse and the skin barrier is quickly restored. The painless AdminPatch system combines effective delivery of drugs through the skin with excellent skin sensation and cosmetics, is easy and intuitive to use by patients and medical personnel alike, and can be economically produced to scale using mature high-volume low-cost processes.
nanoBioSciences technology page…
nanoBioSciences at SVOD…
Images: Top: The AdminPatch™ Microneedles Side: The AdminPatch™ System (Reusable Applicator and Patch)
(hat tip: Ustinov)
