Unleashing the Power of Skin: Microneedle Innovation in Immunization

Have you ever peeled a hard-boiled egg? You might be familiar with the distinct layers lining the egg white: the hard outer shell and a thin papery membrane.

We can use these layers as an analogy for the surface of our own skin. Our epidermis would be the shell, and the papery membrane would be the dermis. The dermis is full of immune cells and lymphoid tissue that initiate immune responses to fight infection and disease.

“Our skin is a pretty perfect place to immunize people,” says Dr. Ying Tam. He's Chief Scientific Officer at Vancouver biotech company Acuitas Therapeutics. “There's always been data to say that it might be the best way to induce an adaptive immune response.”

But immunization has long faced the challenge of effectively targeting the intradermal space to achieve accurate and reproducible results.

This difficulty has led to the conventional practice of immunizing individuals in the muscle, a large and easily accessible organ.

Two years into Dr. Ying Tam’s tenure at Acuitas, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the world.

The global crisis served as a catalyst highlighting the urgent need for efficient and widespread vaccine delivery.

As the scientific community rallied to develop effective vaccines, Acuitas played a pivotal role in providing the lipid nanoparticles that enable the delivery of mRNA vaccines.

In fact, COMIRNATY^®, the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine co-developed by Acuitas, BioNTech and Pfizer was the first to receive regulatory approval in multiple countries and four billion doses have been distributed to 80 countries worldwide. It is enabled by Acuitas’ Lipid Nanoparticle (LNP) delivery system that enables mRNA vaccines to do their important and often lifesaving work.

The success of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines opened new possibilities and sparked a fresh wave of innovation.

Researchers at Acuitas recognized the potential of microneedle patches as a groundbreaking method for vaccine delivery.

“There’s no one way innovation happens,” says Dr. Tam. “But every time the results of an experiment are different from what we might have expected, it encourages us to re-evaluate what we think we know. Bringing us one step closer to a breakthrough.”

The Perfect Inspiration

While the teams and partners of Acuitas are currently in early stages for this innovative approach, there is a great deal of interest and cautious optimism across Acuitas and in the life sciences sector about the ability to develop safe and effective vaccines that can be administered through microneedles.

Human skin, a vital organ responsible for protection, has played a pivotal role in inspiring this technology.

Using the microneedle patch to administer the immunization, immune cells within the skin uptake the mRNA nanoparticles and transport them to the lymphoid tissue, where immune responses are initiated.

The high efficacy of intradermal immunization positions microneedle patches as a potential game-changer in healthcare.

In addition, these patches will offer a virtually painless experience, making them ideal for children and adults with a needle phobia.

The ease of application through the skin would empower individuals to self-administer vaccinations at home. This could eliminate the need for centralized vaccine clinics and promote accessibility.

Microneedle patches may also address the challenges faced in rural and remote areas where accessing health care facilities can be arduous.

“Imagine individuals being able to obtain patches from their local drugstore and immunize themselves and their families,” says Dr. Tam. “That would lift a huge strain off our clinic system.”

The Journey of Breakthroughs

When Dr. Tam was a teenager, his mother died of cancer. The experience impacted him deeply and motivated him to study science with the hope of one day curing illnesses that take loved ones too soon.

A high school biology teacher also inspired him to pursue this path. Dr. Tam describes a particular class where his teacher, brimming with enthusiasm, leapt up onto a desk and physically imitated the movement of migratory cells.

“It was quite shocking,” laughs Dr. Tam. “But moments like that brought the subject to life. They helped me understand that, okay, this is what I want to do.”

Today, the teams at Acuitas collaborate seamlessly with partners to bring innovation to life.

At Acuitas, chemists design new lipids for lipid nanoparticles, formulation experts develop ways to incorporate these lipids into LNP, preclinical teams assess safety and activity, and technical development groups prepare materials for clinical testing – all with a focus on supporting partners as they move nucleic acid medicines through to regulatory approval and into the clinic and ultimately administered to patients.

The focus on development of microneedle technology exemplifies the scientific process filled with curiosity, experimentation, and perseverance.

It’s a reminder for how something we may take for granted—like our skin—can inspire scientific breakthroughs that might change the world.

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