Theraject Asia applies for microneedle patent in US

South Korean microneedle company Theraject Asia on Thursday said it recently applied for a US patent for a medical microneedle, specifically a constant pressure model that controls active drug penetration and resolves effect reproducibility.

As a system for delivering transdermal drugs using a microneedle hundreds of micrometers long, a microneedle can administer a variety of medicines depending on its size, strength and material. Though microneedles are growing in prominence as a cutting-edge technology, know-how in standardized transdermal injection is needed for drug reproducibility when applied to the skin.

Theraject Asia has secured technology for static pressure syringes that combines know-how in drug-injecting microneedles, enabling easy application to the skin under standardized physical conditions.

The company on Wednesday signed a joint research agreement with JW Pharmaceutical to use this technology for development of a hair loss treatment using microneedles.

“In 2019, we received from Theraject in the US an exclusive license for the original patent for a dissolvable pharmaceutical microneedle,” Theraject Asia CEO Kim Kyeong-dong said. “Since 2020, our focus has been finding methods to overcome obstacles to commercial application of a medical microneedle patch.”

Write to Ji-Hyun Lee at bluesky@hankyung.com