Scientists from Massachusetts Institute of Technology along with researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Novo Nordisk (NVO) have developed a novel capsule capable of delivering medicines directly to the gastrointestinal tract, revolutionizing the oral drug delivery game.
Inspired from the jet-propelling squids, the needle-free microjet system could increase drug absorption and address the challenges associated with the traditional injections.
"One of the longstanding challenges that we've been exploring is the development of systems that enable the oral delivery of macromolecules that usually require an injection to be administered. This work represents one of the next major advances in that progression," said senior author Giovanni Traverso.
During the study, the scientists experimented using tissue from digestive tract. They calculated exact pressure required to expel the drugs into the tissue. Later, they designed capsules to target different parts of the digestive tract.
"Aside from the elimination of sharps, another potential advantage of high-velocity columnated jets is their robustness to localization issues. In contrast to a small needle, which needs to have intimate contact with the tissue, our experiments indicated that a jet may be able to deliver most of the dose from a distance or at a slight angle," Arrick added.
While testing in animals, the researchers used these capsules to deliver insulin and diabetes drug Ozempic. They noted that the concentration of the drugs in the animals' bloodstream reached was as same as the drugs injected with needles.
The scientists expect the innovative capsules to make the drug administration easier at home, eliminating the need of sharp needles.
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