Endoderma's production facility in Osong, North Chungcheong Province / Courtesy of Endoderma

By Kim Jae-heun

Local bioindustry venture company Endoderma sees a bright future for its microneedle technology, which can be used for both cosmetics products and medical applications. Currently, its latest technology is utilized in cosmetics procedures only. But once the government approves it for medical use, it will open up a whole new market for Endoderma.

"Ten percent of the global population suffer from needle phobia. Our microneedle technology was developed to reduce the pain of injections while increasing the dosage of a drug," Endoderma CEO Bae Sang-yoon said during an interview with The Korea Times, Wednesday.

Microneedle technology administers drug doses by attaching a patch with tiny sterilized needles to the skin. It shows a higher efficiency of delivery compared to that of the same drug dosage administered via oral medication or a standard syringe with needle.

It also allows vaccines to be kept at room temperature.

"When vaccines are used with microneedles, you don't need a cold chain system to distribute them around the world, which costs a lot. This will become useful when donating vaccines to underdeveloped countries," Bae said. "I think microneedle technology will be commercialized by 2024."

The global market for medical supplies employing microneedle technology has been growing rapidly since seven years ago. Its size reached $6.2 million in 2019 from $4.7 million in 2015, and it is expected to grow to $1.2 billion by 2030, according to 2020 research revealed by Future Market Insights.

Korea is a leader in manufacturing microneedles because it adopts the same technology used to make semiconductors.

"I see electroceutical therapies (that treat ailments with electrical impulses) as the future of microneedle technology, which can be used to treat brain-related issues. In the future, microneedles will deliver electrical pulses that can help people with sleeping disorders or with concentration. They will also be used to treat diabetes or to aid people in quitting smoking," Bae said. "There are just so many ways to utilize them and our company's potential for growth comes from this."

Endoderma was founded in January 2015. It specializes in producing microneedle patches for cosmetic products. Its overseas sales constitute 70 percent of its total revenue and its biggest market is Japan.