Health Innovators - Steve Damon

The hypodermic needle was invented in 1844 by Francis Rynd and, while today’s needles are much safer and more comfortable than Rynd’s, they’re still fundamentally the same animal.

Steven Damon, CEO of Micron Biomedical, thinks there’s a better way to handle many injections and at BIO 2024 in San Francisco he sat down with pharmaphorum editor-in-chief Jonah Comstock to show off his company’s product, a “button” utilising microneedles that is shelf-stable and would allow patients to self-administer a number of vaccines and medications.

They discuss the many advantages of such a technology, including in global health (the company is currently running a trial on measles and rubella in the Gambia), paediatrics, and government stockpiling of vaccines.

They also talk about what it would take for a paradigm shift in drug delivery to take root, and what Micron’s plan for the future looks like. The video also includes some B-roll showing the device in action. Check it out below.