Overview — Future Work

If we want to spread our ideas to the world and benefit more people, it must be achieved through commercialization and entrepreneurship. Furthermore, we want our synthetic biology project to be compatible with the concepts of the SDGs and to incorporate different religions and races around the world. In this section, we focus on improving the microneedle as well as packaging design for the implementation of our project outside the laboratory.

Main Users

Aim at Staphylococcus aureus skin infection, the users are people of all generations. Especially, skin diseases related to S. aureus are prevalent in hot and humid areas, so we expected that the countries in the tropics will be our main users.

The Bridge to the Reality

As microneedle arrays move toward commercialization, it's important to consider customers. Suitable primary packaging can protect our product from external damage, sun exposure, and oxidative deterioration. Furthermore, secondary packaging is related to the purchase desire of consumers. Therefore, we will design moisture-proof and anti-collision packaging.

Currently, we plan to use a biodegradable plastic case to protect the needle tip to keep it sharp. The skin diseases related to S. aureus are often occur in hot and humid areas, so we use a retort pouch to avoid sun exposure and humidity affecting the drug degradation. Finally, the product box includes manuals with step-by-step schematics, alcohol pads, band-aids, etc. With the above materials, users can easily know how to use our products.

Package for Microneedle

Design Concept

In order to make our microneedle become a commercial medical product, our team needs to design primary and secondary packaging. In terms of packaging materials, considering the sustainability issues, we plan to use sustainable or biodegradable materials, such as marine bioplastics, to eliminate the disposable medical equipment problem. This idea meets the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) purpose ”No.12 Responsible Consumption and Production”.

Primary Packaging

We planned to customize a plastic case fitting with the microneedle; then, packed it in a retort pouch. This double protective design can protect the tiny tips from collision and moisture.

Secondary Packaging

We expect to use the carton as the main body of the outer packaging, and attach an instruction for user to understand how to use the product properly. Also, other accessories in the box, including band-aid, alcohol pad.

The More Effective Microneedle

In the most ideal case, we would like to use a more stable drug carrier and a slower release/diffusion rate to face different situations, but due to time factors and technical difficulties, we classify this as a future work. In order to achieve the above purpose, two factors are indispensable, namely Slow Drug Release and Silk Fibroin.

Slow Drug Release

Slow drug release properties utilized in pharmaceutical development have many benefits, such as maintaining a constant level of drug in the body rather than releasing a large amount in a short period, and releasing the drug over a long period of time. Most importantly, slow drug release saves patients time because they don't need to go to the hospital as often to change or keep taking their medications.

Silk Fibroin

Silk fibroin is an advanced biomaterial with biocompatibility, mechanical strength and penetration ability. It is extracted from cocoons and is a natural biological material that is often used in medical and aesthetic products. In terms of material properties, compared with the PLGA and gelatin, silk protein has a larger molecular size, porous structure, and also more hydrophobic domains. It is not easy to be quickly degraded, and can achieve the effect of Slow drug release. In addition, the molecular weight of AMPC is about 25~40kDa, so we need to enlarge the pores by methods such as salting out, freeze-drying, or gas foaming, so that AMPC can be released through the pores successfully .

In addition, we hope to add a chamber for storing medicines, so that the entire microneedle can be turned into a portable storage device, reducing the frequency of dressing changes and improving the convenience for users.

Reference

1. From the laboratory to the end-user: a primary packaging study for microneedle patches containing amoxicillin sodium - Drug Delivery and Translational Research
2. Sustained Release Capsules Manufacturing | Benefit from Controlled Release Technologies for Sustained Release Tablets Handling - UMP Pharmaceuticals