No. 826: Painless injection is no longer a dream (January 9, 2014)

Technology:

Nitto Denko is developing a medical device to administer medicine through skin by radio waves instead of a needle. The company has started joint research on the administration of insulin and antibody drug through skin with several pharmaceutical companies both in Japan and the U.S. The device makes about 200 tiny openings into the skin per square centimeter by adding heat on it using radio waves, and a sheet containing drug substances is stuck to these openings. A patient hardly feels pain and heat. Nitto Denko plans to put the device on the market toward 2020 as a device that a patient can use by himself at home.

3M of the U.S. has already started the clinical trial of the treatment that uses microneedles for postmenopausal women suffering from osteoporosis. The microneedles do not give pain to a patient, and drug substances can be administered in five minutes. Daiichi Sankyo and Terumo are scheduled to launch a vaccine that uses microneedles in 2016. Fujifilm and Nichiban are also developing medication using microneedles. As the graying society develops, demand for easier and painless medication is growing stronger. It is estimated that the world injection market will grow at 14% per annum after 2012 to 4,300 billion yen in 2017.  

        Don't hate an injection!

Painless injection is coming soon.