Corium: MicroCor and MicroJet, two wearable drug-delivery platforms
Concept-to-Phase-1A dissolving microneedle patch, and an Edison-Award piezo-driven needle-free injector
Corium International, 2007–2014. Two distinct wearable drug-delivery platforms in the same engineering portfolio: MicroCor (dissolving microneedle patch, Phase 1 and Phase 1A clinical trials, contributed to IPO) and MicroJet (piezo-driven needle-free injector, 2010 Edison Silver Medal). Different technology stacks; same wearable form factor; both 0-to-1.
Corium International (2007–2014) developed two distinct wearable drug-delivery platforms during the period I was there. MicroCor, a dissolving microneedle patch on the PMA pathway. MicroJet, a piezo-driven needle-free injector. Same company, same wearable form factor, fundamentally different technology stacks. I joined as a Biomedical Engineer and finished as Director of Engineering, leading both programs. Six granted US patents from MicroCor; the 2010 Edison Silver Medal: Game Changer in Medical Technology for MicroJet.
MicroCor: dissolving microneedle patch
A dissolvable microneedle patch for transdermal delivery of biologic drugs. A small adhesive square with thousands of dissolvable sugar-polymer needles; pressed briefly against skin, the needles deliver their payload as they dissolve.
Six granted US patents across three engineering disciplines. Microfabrication for the silicon master and needle array. Surface physics and chemistry for void-free fill of the micro-cavity and the drying physics that followed. Mechanical engineering for the applicator and impact mechanics.
Multi-track parallel development is hard because progress on any single track depends on the state of several others. The work that carried MicroCor was orchestration: pairing fresh PhDs with veteran fab and photonics specialists, sequencing what gated first, parallelizing what could move independently, and being the subject-matter expert across microfabrication, microfluidics, and surface chemistry.
Outcome. A complete concept-to-pilot-line technical stack: silicon-master fabrication, an eight-station custom process chain, pre-pilot equipment producing patches used in two human clinical trials (Phase 1 and Phase 1A) for parathyroid hormone (osteoporosis), full pilot-line design with Harro Höfliger, partnerships with Pfizer / Novartis / GSK, six granted US patents. Contributed to Corium’s IPO.
MicroJet: piezo-driven needle-free injector
MicroJet drives drug through a sub-millimeter nozzle as a high-pressure pulsed micro-jet, orchestrated by embedded electronics and control software. About ten nanoliters per pulse, roughly the volume of a grain of salt. The closest medical-device analog is a piezo-driven inkjet printer.
Multi-physics: piezo actuation, fluid dynamics in a confined chamber, mechanical sealing against skin, embedded controls. The methodology breakthrough was knowing when a simple screening test would surface a dominant failure mode and when a more elaborate qualification was needed. That distinction became the basis of the Edison Award.
Outcome. Edison Silver Medal: Game Changer in Medical Technology (2010), awarded to the Corium MicroJet needle-free injector. The platform did not advance to clinical studies. The methodology, knowing when to screen and when to qualify, transferred to MicroCor and forward into every program since.