Scientists have designed a new oral capsule that could mean that people with diabetes might one day swallow their insulin instead of injecting it. The new technology can potentially be used for delivering other protein drugs as well, including antibiotics and cancer drugs.
People with type 1 diabetes and some with type 2 diabetes need to inject themselves with insulin several times a day. Once injected, fast-acting insulin is absorbed rapidly and is used to correct high blood glucose and control blood glucose levels during meals, while slow-acting insulin is usually injected once a day. Through its slow absorption, slow-acting insulin provides a steady level of insulin to help control blood glucose over the day.
Since they degrade very quickly in the stomach, protein drugs have proven challenging to deliver orally and are usually administered with an injection.
Strong pre-clinical results provide optimism for a new way to deliver insulin
The new oral capsule with insulin has been tested in a pre-clinical study, and the results, published in the international journal Biomaterials Advances, are really exciting.
The research team assessed the performance of the oral capsules with both fast-acting and slow-acting insulin:
- The slow-acting form had shown excellent absorption results– about 50% better than injection delivery for the same quantity of insulin.
- The capsule with fast-acting insulin showed good absorption results; however, the significant lag in the insulin-taking effect compared with injection delivery would likely make it less practical.
These results show a real promise for using oral capsules for slow-acting insulin, which people with diabetes could one day take in addition to injecting fast-acting insulin.
The oral capsules could potentially be designed to allow dosing over specific time periods, similar to injection delivery. The researchers aim to move to clinical trials as soon as possible.
How does the team’s drug capsule work?
The capsule is coated with a special material that shields the drug within it from the acidic environment of the stomach, enabling it to travel securely to the small intestine. The coating is engineered to withstand the low pH of the stomach and dissolve only upon encountering the higher pH levels of the small intestine. To aid the insulin’s passage across the intestinal walls, the team used a fatty nanomaterial to encapsulate it. This technique is analogous to that employed in the Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccines, where fats are utilized to preserve and activate the mRNA, which instructs the body to generate a viral protein, thereby stimulating the immune system.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the development of a new oral capsule that allows for the delivery of insulin and other protein drugs holds immense potential for revolutionizing diabetes treatment. The pre-clinical results of the capsule with slow-acting insulin have been highly promising, showing better absorption rates than injection delivery. The team’s approach of using a special coating and fatty nanomaterial to protect and deliver the insulin is innovative and could be applied to other protein drugs as well. The next step is to move to clinical trials, and if successful, this technology could mean that people with diabetes could one day take their insulin orally instead of injecting it multiple times a day. Overall, this development could vastly improve the lives of people with diabetes and have far-reaching implications for the delivery of protein drugs.
