An array of stainless steel microneedles similar to those used in the study, which showed that the devices can facilitate transdermal drug delivery. (Source: Georgia Tech, Gary Meek)

Researchers at the University of Kentucky and the Georgia Institute of Technology have demonstrated that patches coated on one side with microscopic needles can facilitate transdermal delivery of clinically-relevant doses of a drug that normally cannot pass through the skin. Reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the study could help advance the use of microneedles as a painless method for delivering drugs, proteins, DNA and vaccines into the body. The research also found other advantages for the microneedles, including an ability to produce therapeutic drug levels with lower doses, and lowered production of metabolites that may cause side-effects.

"This proof-of-concept study shows that microneedles work in humans for transdermal drug delivery," said Daniel Wermeling, associate professor of pharmacology in the University of Kentucky’s College of Pharmacy. "Success with microneedles could cause us to rethink the convergence of the drug and delivery system and lead to a more integrated approach merging engineering with pharmaceutical technology."

Published in Drug Discovery & Development magazine: Vol. 11, No. 3, March, 2008, p.32.