A wearable osmotic microneedle patch provides high-capacity sustained drug delivery in animal models.

The maintenance of stable plasma drug concentrations within a therapeutic window can be critical for drug efficacy. Here, we developed a wearable osmotic microneedle (OMN) patch to support sustained drug dosing for at least 24 hours without the use of electronic components. The OMN patch uses an osmotic pressure driving force to deliver drug solution into the skin through three hollow microneedles with diameters of less than 200 micrometers.

Glucose-Responsive Microneedle Patch with High Insulin Loading Capacity for Prolonged Glycemic Control in Mice and Minipigs.

Transdermal microneedle-mediated glucose-responsive insulin delivery systems can modulate insulin release based on fluctuations in blood glucose levels, thus maintaining normoglycemia effectively in a continuous, convenient, and minimally invasive manner. However, conventional microneedles are limited by the low drug loading capacity, making it challenging to be applied on human skin at a reasonable size for a lasting glucose-controlling effect, thus hindering their clinical translation. Here, we design a microneedle patch with a solid insulin powder core to achieve a high loading capacity of insulin (>70 wt %) as well as a glucose-sensitive polymeric shell to realize glucose-responsive insulin release.

Ultrarapid-Acting Microneedles for Immediate Delivery of Biotherapeutics.

Subcutaneous (SC) injection is a common administration route for rapid and efficient delivery of biotherapeutics. However, syringe-based injections usually require professional assistance and are associated with pain and potential risks of infections, thus leading to undesired patient compliance and poor life quality. Herein, this work presents an ultrarapid-acting microneedle (URA-MN) patch for immediate transdermal delivery of therapeutics in a minimally invasive manner.

Tumor-activatable biomineralized nanotherapeutics for integrative glucose starvation and sensitized metformin therapy.

Metformin is a clinically-approved anti-diabetic drug with emerging antitumor potential, but its antitumor activity is highly susceptible to local glucose abundance. Herein, we construct a nanotherapeutic platform based on biocompatible constituents to sensitize tumor cells for metformin therapy via cooperative glucose starvation. The nanoplatform was synthesized through the spontaneous biomineralization of glucose oxidase (GOx) and metformin in amorphous calcium phosphate nanosubstrate, which was further modified with polyethylene glycol and cRGD ligands.