New prototype diabetes pill contains insulin "needle"

If you had the choice between injecting yourself or swallowing a capsule containing your medicine in a needle, which one would you choose?

New research suggests scientists may be closer to making this choice A study published Friday in the journal Science revealed that researchers had developed a capsule containing a small needle of insulin, theoretically offering the possibility to people with diabetes to swallow their insulin one day instead of injecting it.

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To ensure that the needle is injected into the stomach, it is loaded into a steel spring surrounded by a sugar barrier in the capsule. The sugar dissolves when it strikes the gastric juice, which releases the source and injects insulin into the lining of the stomach. The needle stalk does not enter the stomach and is biodegradable.

The researchers used the geometry of the leopard tortoise shell to make sure the capsule hit the stomach in the right direction. The shape of the capsule is inspired by the characteristics of the carapace that allow the turtle to recover if it turns on the back. In this way, the needle stays straight when it gets to the stomach.

Once injected insulin, the capsule and its contents (biodegradable polymer and stainless steel components) dissolve and pbad through the body. In the study, the complete dissolution of insulin in the blood took about an hour, although this rate can be controlled during the creation of the pill.

The pill has not yet been tested in humans, but the researchers said it did not hurt the test subjects and managed to administer up to 5 milligrams of insulin, a similar amount to that used by people with type 2 diabetes.

This video provides a visual of the process:

According to a statement from the Mbadachusetts Institute of Technology, from which the research team is coming, scientists will continue to work with Novo Nordisk Pharmaceutical Lab to continue working on technology and pill manufacturing. Lars Fogh Iversen, senior vice president of global research technologies at Novo Nordisk, told Wired that the team was considering other uses of the pill than diabetes, such as hemophilia or growth hormones.

"The preliminary plans look very promising," Iversen said. "However, this is the beginning and there is still work to be done. We have not yet decided which molecule would be good for the first clinical trials. "