TBED Works: Georgia Research Alliance was a go-to resource for a company producing “game-changing” technology

Vaccine and therapeutics storage and delivery may never be the same as Emory University and Micron Biomedical recently announced the first clinical trial of a novel rotavirus vaccine, CC24, delivered via dissolvable microarray technology. This clinical trial was the first clinical evaluation of any drug or vaccine delivered via patch or microarray that is sponsored by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 

Micron’s technology promises to solve many barriers to delivering vaccines and therapeutics to the global population. These barriers, according to commentary in the Lancet, include preserving vaccines at a specific temperature and having enough vaccine recipients on hand to justify opening vaccine containers, which lose potency when they are not used in a timely manner. Vice President at Georgia Research Alliance and Managing Director of the GRA Venture Fund Connor Seabrook mentioned additional benefits like painless administration and no need to safely dispose of sharps waste, since no needles are used.

As Micron explained in a 2023 press release, their patented microarray technology 

allows drugs and vaccines that today require cold storage and administration through injection to be self-administered or caregiver administered within minutes, without the need for refrigeration or administration by a skilled health professional. The technology significantly expands access by simplifying transport, storage and administration and eliminates traditional injection sharps waste. Completed trials show clinical efficacy and strong patient preference for Micron's technology over injections.

The commentators in Lancet concluded, “MNPs (microneedle patches) could be truly game-changing in humanitarian settings.”

In their announcement, Emory and Micron noted that the company’s technology has been  recognized for its potential to expand vaccine and therapeutic access in hard-to-reach settings, such as developing countries and in situations where medicines need to be swiftly delivered and administered–such as in times of epidemics and pandemics, as well as national security applications and military uses.

The Emory-Micron clinical trial mentioned above is the most recent stop in a journey to bring a high-impact medical device that overcomes the above-mentioned barriers to vaccine and therapeutic delivery to the public. This commercialization journey began in Mark Prausnitz's Laboratory for Drug Delivery at Georgia Tech, where the dissolvable microarray technology was invented. Prausnitz, Regents' Professor and Regents' Entrepreneur at Georgia Tech, cofounded Micron Biomedical with Devin McAllister, PhD, and Sebastien Henry, MS, MB, to usher the technology to commercialization. 

The Georgia Research Alliance worked with Micron from its earliest days through its Innovation and Entrepreneurship (I&E) program. This program team works with Georgia's university tech transfer offices to help select companies or potential projects. I&E provides funding based on the need and the stage of the project. "The grants go to the universities and through the universities to the investigator's lab," said Seabrook. "And those grants are frequently given before a company is even formed. These grants are geared toward figuring out if there is potential to build a company out of this technology. " 

An early-stage company is eligible for an I&E loan that carries “intentionally favorable terms.” “We're trying to get them as far along the development process as possible to mitigate risk and put them in a position where they can raise additional capital,” said Seabrook. 

Between 2013 and 2021, GRA’s I&E program awarded Micron:

• a Phase 1 grant for $50K (2013),
• Phase 2A grants totalling $152,950 (2016-17),
• a Phase 2B grant for $25,000 (2018), and
• Phase 3 loans totaling $350,000.

Prausnitz noted, “while scientists are good at making technical advances, we often need to partner with others to ask and answer the hard questions about bringing technologies to market. The Georgia Research Alliance helped us address those questions about our microneedle technology, and GRA’s grants and loans were also pivotal to our early technology and business development at a time well before other investors were ready to get involved.”

Steve Damon, CEO of Micron Biomedical noted, “Not only was the Georgia Research Alliance instrumental in helping to advance Micron’s microarray technology in the lab—the GRA team also had a vested interest in supporting the launch and early growth of the company itself.”

The company’s steady advance through the phases of GRA funding showed that it had great potential to succeed. "This was a project that was checking boxes and meeting milestones," said Amanda Schroeder, senior vice president of external engagement, Georgia Research Alliance. "They're a poster child of a company that uses that early funding from GRA to help attract private outside capital as well as philanthropic resources."

One foundation that noticed Micron early on was the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which is trying to eradicate measles and rubella globally through vaccines. They first awarded a grant to Micron in 2017, which enabled the first-ever clinical trial of the microarray technology in children. The foundation made additional grants in 2020 and 2021 to support continuing clinical development of Micron’s microneedle-based technology for measles and rubella vaccination. In November 2023, a Gates Foundation grant funded the mass production of the needle-free vaccines. And in January 2025, the foundation awarded additional funds to support ongoing manufacturing scale-up efforts and activities to support a phase 2 trial in infants. In all, the Gates Foundation has granted $43 million for the development of this technology. 

As it took off from Georgia Tech, Micron attracted significant funding from organizations in addition to the Gates Foundation. In November 2022, Micron netted $14 million—including $2 million from the GRA Venture Fund—in a Series A round. In May 2023, Micron reported strong clinical results and attracted $3 million more to its Series A round. In January 2025, the Series A round was expanded to a total of $33 million and additional grants were received. The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) announced a $3.7 million grant and the Center for the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) awarded a $2 million prize to Micron for its collaboration with Zipcode Bio to develop a flu vaccine to be delivered using Micron’s microarray technology. 

The company’s latest success is the above-mentioned CDC clinical trial of the dissolvable microarray to deliver rotavirus vaccine. 

Micron now has the significant support of many players in the biomedical world, and GRA is still a factor. “Our involvement was in the early formative years with the company, and now they are a portfolio company of the GRA Venture Fund, a public-private investment fund,” said Schroeder. “And we have provided consultation and guidance to them as they've continued on their journey.”

“We count GRA among those in our circle of experts as we continue the journey to the clinic,” said Damon.

TBED Works is a new, occasional case study series is open exclusively to SSTI state and sustaining members, allowing them to showcase revolutionizing results of their programs, initiatives and investments. Membership information is available here.