LTS Lohmann leads investment in needle-free delivery specialist

LTS Lohmann has thrown its weight behind Micron Biomedical’s push to enable the self-administration of drugs and vaccines without needles, co-leading a series A round and establishing a partnership with the drug delivery specialist.

Micron owns microneedle patch technology. Pressed onto flesh like a plaster, the patch’s microneedles penetrate the upper layers of the skin and dissolve quickly. Micron says the process is painless, takes a few minutes and delivers the payload into a part of the body that elicits enhanced immune responses. The company can encapsulate drugs for thermostability to reduce or end the need for cold chain storage. 

Atlanta-based Micron financed its progress up to this point with more than $40 million in non-dilutive funding from partners including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Now, the company has raised a series A round.

LTS Lohmann, a manufacturer of drug delivery systems such as transdermal patches, led the $14 million round with Global Health Investment Corporation. Micron will use the money to support development of its commercial manufacturing capabilities.  

Micron is ramping up its manufacturing operation to support a pipeline that features clinical programs including a phase 1/2 study of a microneedle-based measles-rubella vaccine in children that got started last year. Armed with the technology, which is applicable to nucleic acids, peptides, proteins, viruses and small molecules, Micron CEO Steven Damon sees opportunities to transform how products are delivered. 

“Micron's technology has the potential to change the way we administer many of today's currently injected drugs and vaccines. We are deeply committed to bringing Micron's MAP technology-based drug and vaccine products to market, improving access and having a positive impact on patients globally. This financing, and in particular our new investors, will help us to achieve our goals,” Damon said in a statement.