An oral insulin delivery system inspired by tortoises

Despite nearly a century of research, researchers have so far failed to develop an oral form of insulin that would allow patients with diabetes to avoid multiple daily injections. Now researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Novo Nordisk say they have come up with an insulin pill, and it's inspired by the tortoise. The pill is about the size of a blueberry and contains a small needle made of insulin. Once it reaches the stomach, it adjusts its orientation to ensure contact with stomach tissue before injecting the medicine. In tests in rats and pigs, the drug successfully lowered blood sugar to levels similar to those seen with insulin injections. The team reported the results in Science. The gastrointestinal tract is not an ideal site for processing large-molecule drugs. It is acidic and full of the microbiome and digestive enzymes that can attack and degrade proteins. And the thick mucus layers and the dense cellular wall of the tract itself make it difficult for protein-based drugs to pass through. Because of those challenges, past attempts at oral-based large-molecule insulin platforms have only managed to deliver 1% of the drug into circulation, according to the researchers.