(357a) Silicon-Based Xpl Film That Mimics Healthy Skin and Effectively Improves Skin Hydration; And Elute Fiber That Delivers Heat Sensitive Biologics in a Sustained Manner

Transepidermal Drug Delivery has undergone exciting evolution in the last decade. Conventional vehicles for epidermal drug delivery including ointments, creams, lotions and gels, show limitations in efficacy due to very low skin permeation and the demand remain unmet for an improved solution. Drug permeation becomes even more challenging with conditioned skin as compromised skin barrier function can result in increased transepidermal water loss, decreased skin hydration, and loss of elasticity. In the first part of this presentation, XPLâ„¢ technology will be discussed, which is designed to mimic healthy skin and can be engineered to provide a variety of targeted properties including elasticity, breathability, invisibility, water resistance, and protection. The tunability of the XPLâ„¢ system can be leveraged to design a sustained delivery profile to help treat skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis and other types of dermatitis, as well as may offer a diverse array of proprietary solutions to cosmetic and dermatological challenges.

Fibers, particularly monofilaments, are drawing attention in medical device applications due to their unique properties including a high ratio of surface area to volume and the flexibility to be used in the fabrication of complex fibrous networks that resemble extracellular matrices. Drug delivery through such fibrous implants may not only provide structural and mechanical support but also provide sustenance to meet therapeutic needs. However, traditional hot melt extrusion delivers drug eluting fibers with limitations, as heat sensitive therapeutics such as growth factors, immune proteins, enzymes, RNAs, etc. could not survive the manufacturing process. An alternative room temperature extrusion technology circumvents this limitation and enables the delivery of a wide range of pharmaceutical and biological agents that, until now, has remained challenging. In the second half of this presentation, the advancements in room temperature extrusion that carry exciting potential in spatial and sustained delivery of heat sensitive biologics in a variety of medical applications will be discussed.