An Atlanta-based biotech company last week said it successfully concluded the first-ever clinical trial testing of a microarray injection-free vaccine on children as young as 9 months old.

Micron Biomedical tested microneedle-based delivery of the measles-rubella (MR) vaccine on children in Gambia with backing from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Microarray injections are administered via a microneedle patch that looks like a Band-Aid and is applied by pressing it to the skin. Once applied, microneedles penetrate the upper layer of the skin to deliver the vaccine.