Microneedle Solutions: Reducing Barriers to Vaccination and Delivering Meaningful NHS Savings

Microneedle Solutions is a recent addition to the Cambridge Angels portfolio and a great illustration of the range of science-led companies backed by the group. The company is developing a dissolvable microneedle patch for drug delivery, initially focused on vaccines, with the ambition of removing many of the hidden costs and frictions associated with traditional needle-based injections.

For the NHS, Microneedle Solutions’ health-economic modelling indicates potential savings of up to £40 per vaccination, driven by reduced need for trained clinicians, elimination of needle disposal, faster administration and removal of cold-chain storage requirements. These benefits also have potentially huge implications for economically disadvantaged countries.

Beyond cost savings, this technology can also address patient experience - offering a painless, self-administered alternative that should improve uptake among needle-phobic and neurodiverse patients. We sat down to chat to the founder, Henry Dunne.

Can you tell us a bit about your background and Microneedle Solutions?

“I founded Microneedle Solutions in 2022 with my co-founder while we were studying Biotechnology of Enterprise at the University of Leeds,” explains Dunne. During the course, they were exposed to a range of emerging biological technologies, but microneedles stood out as a rare case where scientific promise had not yet translated into commercial reality.

“As we dug into the space, we realised that the technology itself wasn’t the problem,” Dunne says. “The real challenge was commercialisation - how do you manufacture these things cheaply, at scale, while maintaining efficacy?” The first microneedles were produced in their dorm, followed by access to university labs and later a move into the Nexus Innovation Hub in Leeds. That early constraint-driven environment helped shape a core principle of the company: designing for manufacturability from day one.

What are your goals for the company over the next two years?

Microneedle Solutions’ near-term focus is very defined. “Our goal is to be the first company globally to commercialise a vaccine delivered via a dissolvable microneedle patch,” says Dunne. Vaccines represent an ideal entry point: they typically involve a single dose, have well-established regulatory pathways, and benefit from delivery into the skin, where immune cells are highly concentrated.

The platform has already been validated extensively in preclinical studies. The team has demonstrated efficacy across more than 100 animal models and with a wide range of active pharmaceutical ingredients, including mRNA-based vaccines, normal antigens

and vitamins. In 2026, the company plans to begin first-in-human feasibility trials in collaboration with the NHS, followed by a pivotal efficacy study. “We’ve already had had lots of engagements with both vaccine manufacturers and generic drug manufacturers” notes Dunne. “The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and they are all now looking for this clinical validation”.

Can you give an example or two of recent challenges you’ve had to navigate as a CEO?

As the company has scaled, Dunne has had to adapt quickly to managing people and focus. “When you bring together talented individuals with strong opinions, you can’t just expect that alignment will happen automatically,” Dunne reflects. However, he has also managed this successfully by listening carefully, understand different perspectives, and then being totally transparent about why certain strategic decisions are being taken.

Like many first-time founders, he has also had to adjust expectations around execution. “Timelines and budgets almost never behave the way you expect. Building in buffers - both financial and operational - has been one of the most important lessons for me so far!”.

What advice would you give to an entrepreneur going into a funding round?

“Our first fundraising round in 2024 was all about selling the idea and the vision,” says Dunne. “But it gets more difficult the second time around, which was then far more about data, milestones and proof points.”. They also developed a much more structured approach during their latest fundraising, including prioritised investor lists, warm introductions and providing regular, transparent updates.

One particularly hard-earned lesson was around runway. “If a round looks like it might be oversubscribed, my advice is to seriously consider taking the capital as things almost always take longer and cost more than planned.”

How has having Cambridge Angels in your investor group assisted you?

The impact is already evident. “The value isn’t just the capital - it’s the investors real experience and perspective,” Dunne explains. Input from Cambridge Angels members has helped the team sharpen strategic focus, particularly around identifying the single most important priority at each stage of the company’s development.

“Angels who have built companies themselves also understand how messy early-stage execution can be,” he adds. “That empathy, combined with practical guidance and access to a strong network, has been hugely valuable as we move from promising science towards real-world healthcare delivery.”