PatSnap Eureka presents a comprehensive platform for analyzing the subcutaneous drug delivery landscape, leveraging advanced agentic AI technology to accelerate pharmaceutical innovation. The platform integrates over two billion structured data points encompassing patents, scientific research, litigation records, and technological developments. Designed for life sciences professionals, it enables organizations to innovate 75 percent faster while reducing costs by 25 percent. Available in both cloud and on-premises deployment options, PatSnap Eureka serves over 18,000 global innovators with robust privacy controls and enterprise-grade security, offering specialized agents for intellectual property analysis, engineering applications, and materials research to support evidence-based decision-making in drug delivery development.

Nearly 100% skin penetration efficiency was achieved, particularly for UV-treated needles. Dye permeation at 37 °C was significantly higher than that at 25 °C, whereas UV irradiation effectively suppressed this thermally promoted permeation by elevating the LCST. This dual-responsive microneedle matrix system provides a programmable strategy for mechanically robust and externally regulated transdermal delivery.

Transdermal drug delivery systems, including microneedles (MNs), offer advantages over oral administration by bypassing gastrointestinal degradation and first-pass metabolism, while also reducing injection-associated pain. Hydrogel-forming microneedles (HFMNs) represent a promising advancement in this field as an alternative strategy. This study aimed to develop an HFMN using poly(vinyl alcohol)/poly(N-vinyl caprolactam) (PVA/PNVCL) with citric acid (CA) as crosslinking agent for transdermal delivery of captopril as a drug model.

Microneedles represent a transformative advancement in transdermal vaccine delivery, circumventing first-pass metabolism to enhance therapeutic efficacy and patient compliance. This comprehensive review examines diverse microneedle technologies, including solid, coated, dissolving, hollow, and hydrogel-forming variants, alongside innovative engineering fabrication techniques such as micromoulding, three-dimensional printing, aerosol jet printing, and electrohydrodynamic strategies. Recent developments in laser-based techniques and electrospray technology have further expanded microneedle vaccine platform capabilities. These engineering innovations demonstrate significant promise through improved manufacturing efficiency, enhanced mechanical properties, self-administration feasibility, portability, and therapeutic performance. As infectious disease outbreaks increase globally, these emerging technologies are viewed as essential for developing effective, accessible vaccination solutions and controlling infection spread.

Researchers have developed an innovative skin-deep microneedle sensor designed to monitor drug clearance while simultaneously detecting early signs of kidney and liver dysfunction. This advanced biosensor technology offers significant clinical advantages by providing real-time pharmacokinetic data directly from interstitial fluid, enabling healthcare professionals to assess organ function during drug metabolism. The device combines exceptional signal quality with robust durability, making it practical for continuous patient monitoring. By tracking drug clearance patterns and identifying hepatic or renal complications at their earliest stages, this technology promises to enhance personalized medicine approaches and improve patient safety through more precise therapeutic management and early intervention strategies.

Using a 3D printing-based, photolithography-free fabrication process, the system features a flexible, 3D programmed, individually addressable microneedle sensor array with backward-facing barbs for conformal and stable organ interfacing and 3D parenchymal probing. Electrochemical functionalization of microneedle tips enable concurrent monitoring and spatial mapping of key biochemical markers, such as electrolytes, metabolites and oxygenation, in deep organs for at least 7 days.

By creating transient microchannels across the stratum corneum with minimal tissue disruption, MN arrays enable minimally invasive delivery into the epidermis and superficial dermis. Compared with conventional injection and oral administration, MN systems may reduce pain, improve patient acceptability, and bypass first-pass metabolism. More importantly, the skin is not merely a passive route of administration. It constitutes an immunologically active tissue containing Langerhans cells, dermal dendritic cells, macrophages, and resident memory T cells, thereby offering a biologically relevant interface for therapeutic intervention in immune-mediated disease.

The importance of overcoming the stratum corneum barrier is central to efficient MN-mediate transdermal and intradermal delivery. This paper summarizes MNs technology in the transdermal drug delivery era. Extensive studies and research have been conducted in the fabrication of MNs due to its advantages. Various MN design types, material, and manufacturing methods have been illustrated in this paper.

MNs are considered innovative drug delivery systems with unique benefits. They are the perfect platform for pharmaceutical and biological applications since they have improved pharmacokinetics, safety, and efficacy when delivering active substances to the targeted spot. They have offered groundbreaking solutions for the delivery of active therapeutic ingredients employing MNs in life-threatening conditions. All application areas, such as illness detection, disease therapy, immune-biological, dermatological, and aesthetic applications, have seen significant advancements. MNs play a crucial role in achieving a drug release profile; selecting the appropriate material, manufacturing procedure, needle geometry, and design is vital. Clinical trials on MNs have been conducted, demonstrating the scientific community’s significant interest in using devices for various therapeutic purposes. As a result, specific MN devices have made it to the commercial market. The development of these minimally invasive devices would provide a variety of therapeutic opportunities for drug delivery via buccal, oral, and ocular routes. Some studies have reported that MN-based delivery of antihypertensive drugs improves the transdermal delivery of these drugs.

Growth factors are important for wound healing because they regulate key cellular functions. However, in diabetic wounds, these growth factors are rapidly broken down by other enzymes known as proteases. This dramatically slows down wound recovery. At the same time, diabetic wounds are characterised by persistently high levels of inflammation. We wanted to tackle these two issues by using microneedles for both delivery and extraction. It is minimally invasive, can be fabricated with precision, and allows for the active compounds to be painlessly administered directly into wounds. Microneedle patches are excellent materials for wound healing.

The detection and quantification of protein biomarkers in interstitial fluid is hampered by challenges in its sampling and analysis. Here we report the use of a microneedle patch for fast in vivo sampling and on-needle quantification of target protein biomarkers in interstitial fluid. We used plasmonic fluor—an ultrabright fluorescent label—to improve the limit of detection of various interstitial fluid protein biomarkers by nearly 800-fold compared with conventional fluorophores, and a magnetic backing layer to implement conventional immunoassay procedures on the patch and thus improve measurement consistency.

Researchers have developed a new technique to heal wounds using microneedle patches to deliver drugs under the skin. This approach is specifically designed for people with type 2 diabetes, whose injuries often heal slowly or not at all due to their condition.

As a transdermal drug delivery method, microneedles offer minimal invasiveness, painlessness, and precise in-situ treatment. However, current microneedles rely on passive diffusion, leading to uncontrollable drug penetration. To overcome this, we developed a pneumatic microneedle patch that uses live Enterobacter aerogenes as microengines to actively control drug delivery. These microbes generate gas, driving drugs into deeper tissues, with adjustable glucose concentration allowing precise control over the process.

In this work, we developed sodium alginate MNs loaded with vancomycin as an innovative approach for treating skin infections, specifically MRSA. Using a double-casting method, we successfully fabricated MNs that exhibited high integrity and were capable of effectively penetrating an ex vivo skin model, as confirmed by light microscopy and mechanical testing. MNs demonstrated substantial drug delivery ability, with 35% of the loaded vancomycin permeated through full-thickness neonatal porcine skin and 10% remaining within the skin after 24 h. This results in an overall delivery efficiency of 45%, indicating the potential of MNs to provide effective dosing for antimicrobial therapy. Furthermore, antibacterial activity tests confirmed the potent effects of the vancomycin-loaded MNs against C. acnes and S. aureus, confirming their suitability as a treatment modality for skin infections.

The University of Connecticut (UConn) announced in October 2024 that associate Professor Thanh Nguyen’s research has received “significant” backing from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The Gates Foundation has awarded a series of grants totalling $6.6 million, following support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). The funding will contribute to research and innovation for a microneedle array patch that can deliver multiple human vaccines at once. The Foundation initially awarded $2 million, which has increased after early success.

When US researchers tested 75 unopened and sealed tattoo and permanent makeup inks from 14 different manufacturers, they discovered that about 35% of the products were contaminated with bacteria. They detected both aerobic bacteria, which require oxygen, and anaerobic bacteria, which thrive in low-oxygen environments like the dermal layer of the skin.

This manuscript explores the transformative potential of swellable microneedles (MNs) in drug delivery and diagnostics, addressing critical needs in medical treatment and monitoring. Innovations in hydrogel-integrated MN arrays facilitate controlled drug release, thereby expanding treatment options for chronic diseases and conditions that require precise dosage control. The review covers challenges, such as scalability, patient compliance, and manufacturing processes, as well as achievements in advanced manufacturing, biocompatibility, and versatile applications. Nonetheless, limitations in physiological responsiveness and long-term stability remain, necessitating further research in material innovation and integration with digital technologies. Future directions focus on expanding biomedical applications, material advancements, and regulatory considerations for widespread clinical adoption.

A recent collaboration between researchers at the University of Oregon (UO) and L’Oréal has resulted in the development of a multilayered artificial skin model, designed to resemble the complexity of real human skin closely. This achievement has implications for improving the testing of skin care products and potentially enhancing skin healing methods. Led by Associate Professor Paul Dalton from the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact at the UO, the research relies on Dalton’s novel 3D printing technique. Published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials, this technique enables the creation of a two-layered artificial skin, with each layer separated by a membrane, mirroring the structure of natural skin.

Various non-invasive administrations have recently emerged as an alternative to conventional needle injections. A transdermal drug delivery system (TDDS) represents the most attractive method among these because of its low rejection rate, excellent ease of administration, and superb convenience and persistence among patients. TDDS could be applicable in not only pharmaceuticals but also in the skin care industry, including cosmetics. Because this method mainly involves local administration, it can prevent local buildup in drug concentration and nonspecific delivery to tissues not targeted by the drug. However, the physicochemical properties of the skin translate to multiple obstacles and restrictions in transdermal delivery, with numerous investigations conducted to overcome these bottlenecks.

The World Health Organization, along with Bill Gates and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are pushing for vaccine patches to be mailed directly to people’s homes. The rulers will stop at nothing to ensure as many humans as possible are injected with mRNA technology and use Big Pharma and its drugs.