Microneedle Delivery of Protein and Peptides: Advances in Drug Delivery

Microneedles are the advances in the transdermal drug delivery system of proteins and peptide drugs which exerts its effect through the formation of the micro channels. Microneedles are of various types such as solid microneedles, dissolving microneedles, metallic microneedles, 3D printed microneedles; polymer based microneedles, Hydrogel microneedles and coated microneedles. Microneedle characterization is the most important part after the formulation. These dosage forms have both advantages and limitations. Stability enhancement, targeted drug delivery, low invasiveness, enhanced skin absorption etc. are some of the advantages associated with microneedles. Likewise shallow penetration, chances of skin irritation and injury, chances of degradation in different extreme temperature and pH etc. are some of the limitations. Needle integrity, uniform drug distribution, diffusion and degradation, sterility and contamination, immunogenicity and immune response, Activity preservation are the crucial parts that should be controlled during formulation. Improved stability of proteins, stabilization of inactive ingredients, utilization in the field of gene therapy and mRNA delivery, development of smart microneedles, development of multilayered microneedles, ligand targeting etc. are some of the advances in the microneedle delivery system. These delivery systems are widely recognized as the future of the drug delivery addressing the challenges associated with the patient compliance. Keywords: Microneedles, Needle Integrity, Immunogenicity, Patient compliance