Microarray Patches: Poking a Hole in the Challenges Faced When Delivering Poorly Soluble Drugs

Abstract

Poorly soluble drugs constitute more than 60% of currently marketed pharmaceuticals with over two‐thirds of promising new chemical entities failing to enter a clinical setting due to solubility issues. Although oral formulations have made some impact, alternative enhancement strategies for administration of such molecules are actively sought. Over the last decade, innovation on a global scale has enabled the expansion of the frontiers of microarray patches (MAPs) further than ever before. Initially designed to load low doses of hydrophilic and potent therapeutic agents, MAPs are now becoming a viable strategy for the immediate and long‐acting delivery of poorly soluble drugs through the skin. This together with the advantages of transdermal administration over the oral and parenteral routes, make of MAPs an appealing platform for the development of products with increased patient compliance. Undoubtedly, MAPs will soon become a readily available therapeutic alternative, and experts from academia, industry and regulatory bodies are working together aiming to facilitate the progression of MAPs toward safe and effective clinical use. This review aims to highlight the ability of MAPs to deliver poorly soluble actives, discuss the mechanisms behind in‐skin drug absorption, and evaluate the future direction of the field.

NIR Laser‐Triggered Microneedle‐Based Liquid Band‐Aid for Wound Care

“…In the PMCS@MNs system, PMCS, inorganic nanoparticle, has higher mechanical properties than PVA, which increases the mechanical behavior of PMCS@MNs. [ 27 ] After the patch application, the PMCS@MNs detached from the patch backing and remained in the porcine skin, and the image features were visualized by bright‐field photographs (Figure 1e), and the mixture of PMCS and PVA remained embedded in the skin, revealing the successful delivery of PMCS (Figure S3, Supporting Information).…”

Microarray patches enable the development of skin-targeted vaccines against COVID-19

“…Hollow MAPs employ the ‘poke and flow’ approach in which a liquid formulation of biocargo (e.g., vaccine) is administered through microchannels created across skin layers by microarrays [ [216] , [217] , [218] , 237 ]. The basic version is a single needle with micron-scale dimensions (e.g., a miniaturized hypodermic needle).…”

“…Notably, hollow MAPs can deliver liquid cargo solutions without the need for dry vaccine or drug formulations, yet the formulation aspect must still be investigated to achieve effective skin concentrations with the relatively lower volume of solutions that can be delivered to the cutaneous microenvironment. Several different materials, such as metals, polymers, silicon, and glass, have been used to fabricate hollow MAPs with diverse designs [ 222 , 232 , 237 , 238 ]. Although hollow MAPs have been used to deliver vaccine components to skin microenvironments, the design, fabrication, and application aspects of hollow MAPs still require extra attention due to their relatively complex shapes, the potential of leakage of vaccine components, the risk of mechanical failure during skin insertion because of their weaker structure, the complicated manufacturing steps required to create hollow MAPs, and the possibility of clogging of microarray openings.…”

Dissolving Microneedles Developed in Association with Nanosystems: A Scoping Review on the Quality Parameters of These Emerging Systems for Drug or Protein Transdermal Delivery

“…Recent reviews have emphasized the benefits of the association of MNs with nanostructured systems, especially for the release of hydrophobic substances [11,[24][25][26]. Furthermore, these studies have pointed out that despite the promising market for MNs and their association with nanostructured systems, there are still gaps that hinder the transposition from bench to industrial scale.…”