Hopes rise of pill to end misery of jabs for diabetics
FURTHER hope for millions of diabetics of a pill to put an end to daily injections was announced yesterday.
Scientists in the US say they are in the early stages of development.
Research leader Professor Mary McCourt, of Niagara University, said: “We have developed a new technology called a cholestosome.
“This is a neutral, lipid-based particle that is capable of doing some very interesting things.”
She said the biggest hurdle to delivering insulin orally was ushering it through the stomach intact.
Proteins such as insulin are no match for the highly acidic environment of the stomach. They degrade before they get a chance to move into the bloodstream.
One approach to overcoming the problem is to package insulin inside a protective polymer coating to shield the protein from stomach acids.
It is currently being tested in clinical trials. Studies with rats showed that certain formulations of cholestosomes loaded with insulin can travel into the bloodstream where the insulin needs to be.
Now the researchers plan more laboratory tests on animals before progressing to human trials.
The researchers are due to present their findings shortly at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society, in Philadelphia. Scientists in Israel published research this month of their “revolutionary” pill ORMD0801 which was found to reduce glucose levels with Type 2 diabetes in trials. The makers say it could be ready within three years if further tests are successful.
An estimated four million people in Britain have diabetes with many having to inject insulin every day.