Debiotech enters into exclusive worldwide license agreement for an innovative micro-needle technology

Nov. 25, 2002: DEBIOTECH, Lausanne/Switzerland, has secured an exclusive worldwide license to an innovative micro-needle technology, which will be developed in close collaboration with the department of Microsystem Technology headed by Professor Göran Stemme at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. This technology, which is based on a patent pending biocompatible MEMS based micro-needle array, will be used in particular for the improvement of hypodermic drug delivery.

"This innovative micro-needle approach is ideally in line with our experience in micro-technologies and represents an ideal growth of our device activities in the pharmaceutical sector. It will enable us to complement our drug delivery techniques with ultimate patient injection methods and create new opportunities for therapeutic improvement while increasing patient convenience. It will also contribute to improve the efficacy of our drug delivery techniques, such as our MEMS based micropump, and immediately respond to important demands in this fast growing market. It further extends our activities in the field of vaccines and diagnostics." says Frédéric Neftel, M.D., CEO of DEBIOTECH.

DEBIOTECH intends to develop this new technology for immediate use with its various drug delivery techniques, in particular its micropump for insulin delivery "Chronojet", as well as its flow restrictor "Chronoflow".

This innovative micro-needle technology enables a very accurate manufacturing of needle arrays, in which every needle is designed to penetrate the skin within a depth of less than 100 micrometer, thus offering the potential for improving drug bioavailability and reducing insertion pain as well as tissue damages. Each needle is largely perforated in its center, in a way which prevents obstruction of the injection channel while penetrating the skin.

This technology is based on MEMS (Micro-Electro Mechanical Systems), which is an area in which Debiotech has already established a worldwide leading reputation within the medical field.

This micro-needle technology can also be used for the sampling of biological fluids for diagnostics, which is an important area of growth, as well as for the painless delivery of vaccines.