A gel that can smuggle insulin past the stomach and slowly
release the drug into the blood could do away with diabetics'
daily injections. Pills made from the new material could also
deliver other protein-based drugs, such as human growth hormone,
that must be protected from being digested in the stomach.
Researchers and drug companies have for years searched for an
easier way to deliver insulin to avoid the pain and bruising
that regular injections can cause. Cheek patches and insulin
inhalers have both been investigated, but both have so far
failed to make it onto the market. Putting insulin into pills is
another approach, but stomach acids and enzymes efficiently
break down proteins like insulin. Previous attempts to sidestep
these delivery problems involved putting the insulin inside
capsules, or mixing it with fatty lipids. "It has been a Holy
Grail, not only to deliver insulin orally, but also other drugs
that can [only] be taken by injection," Peppas says. With
colleagues he has now developed a pill th