Computer models to help patch drugs through skin

A team of researchers from the University of Bradford, UK, are pioneering the use of computer models to design ways of infusing drugs through the skin - without the pain of needles. Their method could help develop stick-on skin patches for many drugs that currently have to be injected, such as insulin for diabetes.

The group's work will be reported on April 3 at the Eighth Annual Meeting of the Skin Forum taking place at the School of Pharmacy, University of London.

Few drugs can be delivered using such patches, because the molecules are too large to pass through the skin's tough barrier. But why this happens is not entirely understood, and investigating it is a challenge - despite being too large to pass through the skin, molecules of both kinds are still too small to be studied in experiments.