A new drug delivery capsule has been devised (Abstract) that could replace the need for administering injections. The capsule has tiny needles that inject the drugs directly into the stomach lining once swallowed.
Given a choice, most patients would prefer to take a drug orally instead of getting an injection. Unfortunately, many drugs, especially those made from large proteins, cannot be given as a pill because they get broken down in the stomach before they can be absorbed.
To help overcome that obstacle, researchers at MIT and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have devised a novel drug capsule coated with tiny needles that can inject drugs directly into the lining of the stomach after the capsule is swallowed. In animal studies, the team found that the capsule delivered insulin more efficiently than injection under the skin, and there were no harmful side effects as the capsule passed through the digestive system.
“This could be a way that the patient can circumvent the need to have an infusion or subcutaneous administration of a drug,” says Giovanni Traverso, a research fellow at MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, a gastroenterologist at MGH, and one of the lead authors of the paper, which appears in the Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Although the researchers tested their capsule with insulin, they anticipate that it would be most useful for delivering biopharmaceuticals such as antibodies, which are used to treat cancer and autoimmune disorders like arthritis and Crohn’s disease. This class of drugs, known as “biologics,” also includes vaccines, recombinant DNA, and RNA.
“The large size of these biologic drugs makes them nonabsorbable. And before they even would be absorbed, they’re degraded in your GI tract by acids and enzymes that just eat up the molecules and make them inactive,” says Carl Schoellhammer, a graduate student in chemical engineering and a lead author of the paper.
(Score: 1) by plnykecky on Friday October 03 2014, @06:55AM
Do the needles get dissolved after?
(Score: 3, Informative) by lhsi on Friday October 03 2014, @07:26AM
From the article:
Previous studies of accidental ingestion of sharp objects in human patients have suggested that it could be safe to swallow a capsule coated with short needles. Because there are no pain receptors in the GI tract, patients would not feel any pain from the drug injection.
To test whether this type of capsule could allow safe and effective drug delivery, the researchers tested it in pigs, with insulin as the drug payload. It took more than a week for the capsules to move through the entire digestive tract, and the researchers found no traces of tissue damage, supporting the potential safety of this novel approach.
No, but they don't break off either until the capsule leaves the body.
Also:
The team now plans to modify the capsule so that peristalsis, or contractions of the digestive tract, would slowly squeeze the drug out of the capsule as it travels through the tract. They are also working on capsules with needles made of degradable polymers and sugar that would break off and become embedded in the gut lining, where they would slowly disintegrate and release the drug. This would further minimize any safety concern.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 03 2014, @07:49AM
I guess the next round of TV ads [reliongroup.com] will now include ulcers, colitis, and any sort of other GI problem that could be the result of having the GI pieced. I guess that's what insurance is for, that is, if anyone can afford insurance that actually covers it - I mean for real, not just sales promises*.
*[4 point grey type on green background] Insurance not valid on claims over $10.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 03 2014, @07:30AM
TLA: Would you like some coffee?
0: Sure!
TLA: Haahhahahahhahahh!
(Score: 2) by Dunbal on Friday October 03 2014, @09:56AM
I'm guessing that controlling dosage accurately could be a problem depending on the patients' gastric motility, mucous secretion, etc. Cool idea though.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 03 2014, @12:58PM
Any drug delivery system has its own challenges. But the more options we have, the better we can handle any given medical situation.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 03 2014, @12:59PM
And the stomach has no problem with being micro cut?
Seems to me this is pretty invasive and opens the door for a host of other troubles.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by captain_nifty on Friday October 03 2014, @03:38PM
So most people prefer a pill over a needle, this is a solution to a human preference.
On that note I think most people would rather not ingest a pill full of needles, this sounds horrible, regardless of tests showing no damage or side effects.
Given the choice of a simple shot, or swallow these needles, I would take the injection!!
(Score: 2) by Fnord666 on Friday October 03 2014, @04:20PM
Yeah, their graphic looks more like a melee weapon that a safe, unassuming pill that I would want to swallow. If they were looking for something that would ease people's concerns, that picture wasn't it.