A fear of needles is very real for
many people. Unfortunately, in many
cases, injections are the only means of delivering treatments into the blood
stream. Many biopharmaceuticals would be
broken down in the GI tract too quickly to be absorbed and utilized by the body
and would essentially be wasted if taken as a pill. The brilliant minds at MIT and Massachusetts
General Hospital (MGH) have found a way around this problem.
Researchers have developed a needle
coated capsule that effectively delivers drugs into the blood stream through
the stomach and intestines. This
delivery system actually delivered insulin more efficiently than a subcutaneous
injection in their pig models! They
observed faster and larger drops in blood sugar with these capsules than with
the normal injections.
The researchers tested this capsule
with insulin but noted that it would be best at delivering “biologics” or
biopharmaceuticals, such as antibodies for cancer or autoimmune diseases or
vaccines. The potential benefit to
patients is unbelievable. Imagine if
cancer or Rheumatoid Arthritis treatments could be an outpatient procedure that
didn’t require four hour infusions. What
if the increased delivery efficiency meant smaller doses and decreased side
effects?!
This also has incredible potential
for vaccinations in rural areas or third world counties. A shipment of pills would be much easier to
deliver and would require substantially less manpower to administer than the
same quantity of medicine administered via injection. Plus the risk of blood borne pathogens being
spread would be drastically reduced. People all over the world can benefit from new
products like this that make healthcare more accessible.
This is just one step in the ever
changing field of medicine, and the progress shows no signs of slowing
down. These same researchers are perfecting
their product to even more efficiently deliver drugs and I’m sure other
innovations are on their way as well.
References
Trafton A. 2014 Oct 1. New Drug Delivery Capsule May Replace Injections [Internet]. Cambridge(MA):MIT News Office; [cited 2014 Oct 13] . Available from: https://newsoffice.mit.edu/2014/microneedles-drug-delivery-capsule-1001#.VCzXTlrhxrU.reddit
I wanted to thank you for bringing up the topic of autoimmune diseases and the benefits of how this type of capsule could greatly change treatment. This is so important for future treatment of chronic diseases as many infusions are incredibly time consuming and very expensive. One medication for Lupus, Benlysta, is currently only available as infusion though pharmaceutical companies are trying to make it a subcutaneous injection. Not only is this medication expensive as a infusion, at about $30,000 for the first year, but it is time consuming as it must be infused once a week for the first two months and then once a month thereafter. This medication has had more benefits than any other medication currently available for certain Lupus patients while decreasing the use of corticosteroids that have a significant amount of side effects. Unfortunately, because of the cost, the time commitment and lack of availability, most Lupus patients that would benefit from this medication are unable to use it as a treatment. If this medication were to be delivered via a capsule, many more Lupus patients would be able to use this treatment which would greatly improving quality of life.
ReplyDeleteThis is super cool! I agree with you and Jenny that the significance for chronic conditions can't be over-emphasized. Is there any concern about the cumulative damage to the stomach and intestines from such capsules? I am thinking in particular of individuals who must regularly take such pills. I suppose that if the ingested needles are small enough, there would not be much concern for damage.
ReplyDeleteThis ties in nicely with my most recent blog post about the use of transgenic plants as a form of oral vaccination. Using plants as vaccine vectors reduces the production and storage cost. Plants, as well as pills, would not need a cold storage chain to maintain viability. This and/or plant derived vaccines could reduce the fear associated with needles which would allow more people to become immunized increasing herd immunity and eradicating certain diseases. Also, because the production and storage costs are so dramatically reduced, vaccines can become more readily available in poverty stricken countries where certain preventable diseases are an epidemic. Ingesting tiny needles concerns me especially if this treatment is for a chronic disease and patients have to take them everyday for the rest of their life.
ReplyDelete