Recent advances in microneedle-based drug delivery: Special emphasis on its use in paediatric population

Abstract

Transdermal drug delivery offers several attractive advantages over the traditional oral and parenteral routes. Particularly, in case of paediatric patients, it helps to overcome the issues specific to this population, such as difficulty in swallowing and palatability of oral medicines as well as fear and pain associated with needles. However, due to the formidable barrier characteristic of the stratum corneum, it fails in the effective systemic delivery of broad range of therapeutic molecules, especially macromolecules and genetic material. Over the last two decades, microneedle technology has been portrayed as a strategy to infringe the stratum corneum, in a minimally invasive manner, and enable the successful passage of molecules by creating transient channels across the skin. There has been an exponential surge in the number of studies exploring the design, development and fabrication of microneedles. This article reviews the evolution of microneedle technology and provides a comprehensive summary of microneedle research to date. It provides a detailed overview of the microneedle types, advanced fabrication strategies including the biodegradability and compatibility of the new materials used in fabrication. Research on microneedle-mediated paediatric drug delivery as well as insights on the application of this novel technology has been discussed. The up-to-date progress in clinical translation of microneedles and the regulatory requirements for their commercialization are highlighted along with a brief perspective on the future prospects of microneedle-mediated paediatric drug delivery. This review proposes that advanced research can further contribute to the improved therapeutic efficiency of microneedle-based delivery of numerous molecules, which are otherwise difficult to administer via the conventional transdermal delivery mechanisms.

Keywords: Drug delivery; Microneedle technology; Paediatric drug delivery; Paediatric formulation; Stratum corneum; Transdermal delivery.