Nicer Than Needles: Insulin Pills for Diabetes Finally in Clinical Trials

After years of research and anticipation, insulin pills that could make it easier for millions of patients worldwide to manage diabetes are finally moving ahead in clinical trials and a step-closer to the medicine cabinet.

ACS News Service Weekly PressPac: 2 June 2010

That’s among the topics highlighted in a two-part cover story on drug manufacturing in the current issue of Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), ACS’ weekly newsmagazine.

C&EN Senior Correspondent Ann Thayer notes that drug manufacturers have tried for years to develop oral insulin without much success. Insulin is a peptide hormone that people with diabetes currently take by injection to bring their blood sugar to within normal levels. But doing so requires uncomfortable, inconvenient injections that can make patients reluctant to use the drug frequently enough to adequately control their blood sugar. An oral form of insulin could help solve this problem. However, stomach acids and enzymes easily destroy insulin and other protein-based drugs. Scientists have had difficulty finding an effective way to eliminate this problem.

They’ve responded to this challenge by developing special coatings for insulin pills that prevent stomach acid from destroying them. Scientists also are using additives that make it easier for the intestine to absorb large molecules like insulin. After years of setbacks, signs of success may be at hand. Several insulin pills are now in various stages of clinical trials, and proof of concept may allow them to move into late-stage and more rigorous clinical testing. Only time will tell, however, whether these much-anticipated pills will make it to the market.

Chemical Engineering News - Ann Thayer

This is AWESOME!!! I personally don't have diabetes but I have a few friends that do. I can't wait to tell them about this press release. Being that diabetes is a pretty common disease unfortunately, I am willing to guess that this thread may be welcome news to some fellow ATS members and their family, friends, and acquaintances.

[edit on 6/3/2010 by UberL33t]

I personally feel most of these diseases are caused by the food we eat. We've all heard the saying "you are what you eat," and "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." Eating fruits and vegetables is a very natural way to cleanse your body.

Here's a good example. The movie is very insightful.

www.rawfor30days.com...

My diabetes wasn't caused by the foods I ate. It was caused by the medicine I must ingest twice a day that helps my transplanted kidney to continue to function and not be rejected by my body.

I'm happy this new medicine is being devloped, if it doesn't cause additional problems.

I wonder how the dosage will be controlled though. Needing, say, 47 units of insulin as opposed to 10 units, depending upon the person, is easy to control using injections of insulin.

reply to post by belidged


While diet is absolutely important to a diabetic, my diabetes was caused by a virus that attacked and mutated the islet cells in my pancreas. I have been insulin dependent for 15 years and it really SUCKS! I would be willing to be in any clinical trials. I am running out of places to give shots after all these years. The skin on my thighs and stomach is scarred and toughened , now I give the shots in my arms, but even that is not gonna last much longer.

Hurry, hurry insulin pills!!!

This is good news for all the diabetics around the world. Hope it will make it to the market. I have it about 20 years, and it's time that some new things come. Needless are not my thing. for the inventors

After 26 years as a type 1, I think it will be rather handy to finally see pills for this, tho I am worried about the side effects.

Diabetics have been stabbing ourselves in the abdomen, thighs, biceps, shoulders, and anywhere else we have some decent tissue-buildup for years, some for decades and longer. So this will be a welcome addition when it hits the market.

Someday they'll figure out a way to fix us. But not until they stop worrying about a revolving cash flow monthly from us who suffer.

Off-topic:
For those of you tired of doing multiple shots per day, like i was, google "insulin pump". it has been a life-saver. U2U me if you have questions. 1 jab every 3 days is much nicer.

reply to post by Cygnis

tho I am worried about the side effects.

Hopefully they will be minimal, the current side effect of having to stick one's self however, I could not even imagine having to do that.

Type 1 (insulin dependent) Diabetic here.

For years I've been seeing news stories saying things like this, "the cure for Diabetes is just around the corner", and "painful injections will soon be a thing of the past". Of course, it never comes to fruition.

I won't be getting my hopes up about this.

Thanks for the news though, it's nice to see they're still working on it at least.

reply to post by jennybee35


If you hate shots you could try the pump. But, best of all, you can follow a diet that requires only a minimal amount of insulin. Dr. Bernstein would be your best bet. The man has lived with Type 1 diabetes for 64 years. And just so we're clear, Type 1 diabetics live 20 years below the national average.

-Dev

as an athelete and enthusiastic body builder i have used whey and casein protein supplements for some time, and am aware of their impact on the body's ability to naturally even out sugar levels as well as insulin (sp?)

i am not saying that diabetes people should look into whey supplements to help their ailments, i'm pretty sure that there is an FDA label on every supplement that states it cannot help such a problem, but in the future i would like to see some research into the subject as i have never read of any

i expect that given the commitment a team of scientist could easily create a 'pill' that could help insulin and insulin production

reply to post by indigothefish


You should research this:

How to Request a Clinical Trial