Ocelus wins funding for micro implant device

Ocelus, a developer of a drug delivery method that does not require a needle, has secured investment totalling £100,000 from Finance Wales and the Welsh Assembly Government to support the development and commercialisation of the product.

The Cardiff-based company has developed a device that pushes drugs through the skin via microscopic particles. It has the potential to create substantial savings for drug companies and health services, as well as making it easier for patients to take certain drugs.

Patients or medical staff would place the device on to the skin to deliver the drug. Taking drugs for hormone imbalances and diabetes, cancer pain, and many other treatments, including vaccines, could potentially be made via the new delivery system, which would reduce the pain and inconvenience of an injection.

Finance Wales has taken a £50,000 equity stake in Ocelus, with the Welsh Assembly Government providing £50,000 through its Single Investment Fund.

According to Dr Andrew Kirby, project leader, many drugs, such as growth hormone and insulin, can currently only be given effectively by injection.

"The major barrier to drug delivery to the skin is a 10-20 micrometre layer of dead skin cells called the stratum corneum, which stops or slows the penetration of chemicals into the body. This means very few drugs are suitable for current patches, and instead have to be given by injection or as tablets," he said.

"Our micro implant device overcomes a range of issues by pushing thousands of microscopic particles through the dead skin cell layer, where they can dissolve to release the drug. This allows the functionality of an injection with the convenience and lack of pain of a patch. In basic terms, the device provides an accurate, rapid, discreet and pain-free method for delivering drugs into the body.

"Alternatives, such as micro-needles are difficult to commercialise because of their variability in the amount of drug delivered and the actual manufacture of the micro-needles themselves. We see our unique device as the next generation from these technologies."

Ieuan Wyn Jones, Minister for the Economy and Transport, said bioscience was a key sector in Wales and was actively supported by the Welsh Assembly Government.

"The future of this sector depends on companies developing and bringing new and innovative products to market and we are able to support the development and commercialisation of these products through the Single Investment Fund," he said.

The bioscience sector in Wales comprises more than 250 companies employing 15,000 people and is worth an estimated £1.24bn a year to the Welsh economy.