Graduate Research Assistant Cornell University Taylorsville, New York
Many therapeutics are unable to spontaneously cross the stratum corneum readily limiting their therapeutic potential without intervention. Microneedles are used to mechanically disrupt the cutaneous barrier, expanding opportunities for new treatments. Coacervate, a liquid-liquid phase separation that protects unstable proteins, to date has not been used within microneedles. Here we present a layered microneedle that incorporates coacervate for the controlled delivery of cytokines and other proteins. We show our approach to microneedle fabrication using micro molding. We verified the morphology and mechanical integrity of the microneedles with SEM images and ex vivo skin penetration. We demonstrated three-phase release that can be used for improved controlled delivery of drugs. We showed further control over layer thickness that is obtained with our fabrication strategy. The microneedles can incorporate both small molecule drugs and proteins for therapeutic effect thus highlighting the promising possibility of applications that this microneedle patch.
Learning Objectives:
Participants will be able to describe key components of dissolvable microneedles and their therapeutic relevance.
Attendants will be able to understand the process of layered microneedle fabrication.
Upon completion, participants will be able to describe treatment strategies using this multilayered microneedle.