Lanwei Medical Advances Transdermal Drug Delivery with Over 10,000 Soluble Microneedles per cm², Expanding into Aesthetics, Vaccines, and Metabolic Therapeutics
On October 15, 2019, the FDA approved Secuado, a transdermal delivery system, for marketing to treat adult patients with schizophrenia. Secuado is currently the only transdermal patch therapy approved for the treatment of patients with schizophrenia.
Transdermal Drug Delivery Systems Enter the Public Eye.
Transdermal Drug Delivery Systems refer to a class of dosage forms that administer medication via skin application, allowing the drug to permeate through the skin into the systemic circulation and achieve effective plasma concentrations for disease prevention or treatment. As a novel and viable pharmaceutical formulation, transdermal drug delivery systems avoid the visceral side effects associated with oral administration and offer high patient acceptability.
However, due to the barrier function of the stratum corneum, the number of drugs suitable for transdermal delivery is very limited.
To this end, scientists have investigated a range of techniques to enhance drug permeation and overcome barrier effects. Microneedle-based transdermal drug delivery is one such approach.
Microneedle transdermal drug delivery combines the dual advantages of subcutaneous injection and transdermal patches. The transdermal patch features tens to hundreds of microneedles, which create microscopic channels by piercing the skin to facilitate drug penetration.
Compared with the use of transdermal preparations alone, this approach can significantly enhance the efficiency of transdermal drug absorption, expand the range of drugs suitable for transdermal delivery, and promote the transdermal absorption of water-soluble drugs. The transdermal penetration effect is more pronounced for macromolecular drugs such as peptides, proteins, and vaccines.
Microneedles have garnered strong interest from international pharmaceutical companies and academic institutions, owing to their advantages—such as being painless, minimally invasive, easy to use, and carrying a low risk of accidental needlestick injuries—as well as their broad market prospects. However, due to the high technical barriers and entry thresholds in this field, only a handful of domestic players in China are currently involved.
According to the report “Global Transdermal Drug Delivery Systems Market Forecast and Technical Analysis, 2013–2024” published by Grand View Research, the global transdermal drug delivery systems market is projected to reach $81.4 billion by 2024.
Given the market gap and demand, several PhDs with deep expertise in nanobiology, medicine, and electronics sought to become pioneers in this field. In July 2016, Shanghai Lanwei Medical Devices Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Lanwei Medical”) was established.
Microneedles can be categorized into two main types: solid microneedles and hollow microneedles. Among these, hollow microneedle arrays combine the dual advantages of syringes and transdermal drug delivery patches, making them suitable for liquid medications and drugs requiring higher therapeutic doses. They are particularly well-suited for the administration of biotechnological pharmaceuticals, such as nucleic acid-based drugs, peptides, and protein vaccines.
The most significant advantage of microneedle technology lies in its ability to facilitate the penetration of macromolecules through the stratum corneum. Compared with injectable administration, it is virtually non-invasive and painless, akin to subcutaneous delivery, thereby enhancing patient acceptance. Additionally, microneedle-based drug delivery allows for more precise control over dosage.
Lanwei Medical is a platform-based company specializing in microneedle-mediated transdermal drug delivery, with core business activities focused on the independent development of soluble and insoluble microneedles, as well as collaborative R&D through CRO/CDMO partnerships.
The founding team of Lanwei Medical is truly stellar. The core members primarily hail from the Institute of Nano Biomedical Engineering at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Professor Cui Daxiang, the Chief Scientist, serves as the Director of this institute and is also the Principal Investigator for a National Major Basic Research Program (973 Program) project in nanoscience. Founder Professor Li Ding holds the position of Director at the Center for Biological Diagnosis and Therapy of the Beijing Military Region. Dr. Yang Hao and Dr. Deng Min, both key researchers in national 973 and 863 Program projects, are currently responsible for microneedle drug-loading processes and clinical trials, and MEMS fabrication processes at Lanwei Medical, respectively.
It is understood that the core founding team of Lanwei Medical hails from the fields of pharmaceuticals, microfabrication, nanotechnology, and medicine. Yang Hao, Founder and Deputy General Manager of Lanwei Medical, stated candidly that the company boasts a highly comprehensive and diverse talent pool composed of experts from various disciplines, featuring strong multidisciplinary integration and excellent complementarity.
Following its establishment, Lanwei Medical dedicated itself to foundational research strategies for microneedles, exhaustively exploring all known microneedle fabrication techniques. This effort laid a solid foundation for subsequent microneedle R&D. In December 2016, Lanwei Medical successfully developed a MEMS (Micro/Nano-Electro-Mechanical Systems) technology platform for silicon and non-silicon molds for microneedle arrays. Shortly thereafter, the company mastered the materials and processes for forming microneedle array films. In July 2018, it successfully developed microneedle array samples.
A professional team, a vast market, and highly competitive technologies are all favored by investors. One month later, Lanwei Medical completed a tens-of-millions RMB Series A financing round led by Mingfeng Capital. It is understood that this round of funding will be used to optimize Lanwei’s MEMS platform, rapidly bring its microneedle-based aesthetic products to market, and advance the research and development of advanced medical devices such as microneedle transdermal drug delivery systems and microneedle vaccines.
Lanwei Medical’s business operations are divided into three major segments: medical aesthetics, high-end medical devices, and clinical immunology applications. Currently, Lanwei Medical’s first cosmeceutical product—the Intelligent Delivery System for Dissolvable Hyaluronic Acid Microneedles—is undergoing channel trials and is poised for market launch.
This system can directly fabricate hyaluronic acid into ultra-fine microneedles, replacing traditional methods that use metal or insoluble polymers. It enables matrix-like net injection to form a hydration network. With needle lengths ranging from 25 to 2000 μm, the microneedles can reach the dermal layer of the skin while simultaneously delivering essences, thereby achieving cellular-level skin regeneration and repair. Lanwei Medical’s high-precision microfabrication platform can arrange more than 10,000 microneedles within an area of 1 cm², significantly increasing both drug-loading capacity and the number of drug delivery channels. Reportedly, Lanwei Medical’s series of soluble microneedle products for medical aesthetics will be officially launched in 2020, covering mainstream aesthetic applications such as freckle removal and acne treatment.
Microneedle-based transdermal drug delivery has broad applications, enabling the transdermal administration of small molecules, biologics, vaccines, and intracellular DNA/RNA. Currently, the primary research focuses for microneedles are in the areas of vaccines, diabetes, and dermatological diseases.
Why Did Lanwei Medical’s Products First Enter the Market in the Medical Aesthetics Sector?
According to Yang Hao, Mingfeng Capital, an investor in Lanwei Medical, focuses on strategic investments in the medical aesthetics sector. Dr. Wang Zhen, a partner at Mingfeng Capital, is a returnee postdoctoral fellow in biopharmaceuticals. He has previously worked at institutions such as the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) in South Korea, the Basel Institute for Immunology in Switzerland, and Haitong Securities, possessing profound insights into both Chinese and international medical aesthetics markets. Jin Xuekun, the founding partner of Mingfeng Capital, has served as CEO of Bloomage Biotechnology and other senior roles, boasting extensive expertise and resources across the upstream, midstream, and downstream segments of the domestic and overseas medical aesthetics industries.
Following the financing, Mingfeng Capital also leveraged its accumulated resources in the healthcare sector to provide a series of post-investment services to Lanwei Medical.
Given the high barriers to entry and significant technical hurdles associated with microneedle technology, Lanwei Medical plans to establish a solid foundation with medical aesthetic products before gradually expanding into high-end medical devices and dry/immune cell applications. Currently, Lanwei Medical’s clinical application platform for dry/immune cells has been fully established, and test orders from business-to-business (B2B) clients are already underway.
Over the past two years, Lanwei Medical has achieved significant successes, not only completing the R&D and mass production of high-density/ultra-high-density microneedle molds but also establishing a Class 10,000 cleanroom workshop in Shanghai for the preparation of cells and derivative products. Yang Hao stated that Lanwei Medical plans to mass-produce tens of millions of microneedle patches in 2020.
Meanwhile, Lanwei Medical has partnered with leading experts in the field of metabolic diseases, including Professor Qiang Li from Columbia University and Professor Liu Yun from Fudan University. Leveraging their series of proprietary patented drugs in the metabolic sector, they jointly established Aponia Medical Technology Co., Ltd., which is dedicated to the research and development of metabolic microneedle drugs for weight loss, diabetes, and adjunctive therapy.
Notably, Lanwei Medical has established partnerships with more than ten professional medical aesthetics channels, including KSG. A certain microneedle vaccine developed in collaboration with Shanghai Jiao Tong University and other institutions has completed preliminary evaluation, demonstrating immune efficacy equivalent to that of traditional vaccine injection methods in equivalence trials, with plans to expand this technology to other vaccines in the future.
Currently, Lanwei Medical is seeking partnerships with leading API manufacturers and companies holding proprietary patented drugs, with a strategic focus on medications that address common pain points in conventional drug delivery and have broad market demand. Yang Hao revealed that the company will consider secondary market options once it reaches a certain stage of development. Given the significant application prospects of microneedle technology, and to accelerate its industrialization, Lanwei Medical has engaged in extensive and in-depth discussions with prominent industry funds in the semiconductor and healthcare sectors. The company expects to complete its Series B financing in the first half of 2020. Interested institutions may contact the financing assistant, Xiao Yun, at DongMai_Investent.