Rani completes first trial of capsule that could replace injections

Results of the first human study of a capsule designed to replace injections of biologics have been announced, using an automatic pill designed by Silicon Valley-based Rani Therapeutics. Backed by Google’s parent company Alphabet, Rani has begun clinical trials of the RaniPill, which is capable of delivering biologic drugs such as insulin and AbbVie’s Humira into the wall of the small intestine. Rani has already conducted more than 100 animal studies and found the pill showed 100% equivalence with injections. The RaniPill capsule has a special enteric coating that protects itself in the acidic environment of the stomach. When the capsule moves into the intestine and pH levels rise, the enteric coating dissolves and a chemical reaction takes place which inflates a balloon. The pressure in the balloon pushes the dissolvable microneedle filled with the drug into the intestinal wall, where uptake of the drug is immediate due to the high number of blood vessels in the intestinal wall.