Karen’s Science Radio: Microneedle Pill

Would you rather? One big pin-prick or lots of little micro pin-pricks?

I’m not trying to start a game of would you rather, but really, which would you pick…

A novel concept for drug delivery is currently being developed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) – a micro needle pill. These Massachusettsan researchers are proposing that instead of injections, an oral administration of a tablet coated with stainless steel micro needles may be a more efficient way of drug delivery. Fair enough, oral administration of medication would probably be preferred to an injection but when you see the microneedle pill you may not agree…

Many substances cannot be orally ingested due to enzymatic breakdown in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. This new capsule can be swallowed and its pH-sensitive coating allows it to be delivered directly to the intestine. Of course, as it is still in development, there are some caveats to this new concept. Although there are no pain receptors in the GI tract and technically there should be no pain taking medication in this form, I think it may be a while before people adjust to therapies taken in this way, particularly when considering elimination! However, the idea does have great potential.

At the moment the micro needle pill is only a prototype. It has been trialled in the delivery of insulin to pigs. Positive results were attained in this pre-clinical study with rapidly decreased blood glucose levels after ingestion of the needle-coated capsule. Interestingly, the diminished blood glucose levels observed were greater than those seen when the drug was administered via subcutaneous injection indicating that the micro needle pill may be even more effective than current drug delivery methods. It also holds other advantages such as the potential to deliver antibodies and vaccines for cancer treatments and autoimmune diseases which are more difficult to absorb when administered in other previously established formats.

Although this new idea may seem mad, novel but great ideas can seem a bit mad initially. This very different idea, if developed properly and to its full potential, could lead to huge medical success!  Watch this small video on Traverso and colleagues’ work and see what you think for yourself.

And if you’re really intrigued here’s a link to the original research article here.

You can listen into Karen’s Science Radio Show on Monday nights just after 10pm on iRadio