A Promise Of Oral Insulin

July 30, 2007

Insulin, a hormone that helps controls glucose levels in the body, is a protein that breaks down in the digestive system, making absorption of insulin into the blood circulation weak, and the idea of oral insulin pills or tablets inconceivable. Oramed Pharmaceuticals is now in the midst of Phase I clinical trials for what promises to be the world’s first oral insulin treatment for Type 2 diabetics. Diabetes is a condition in which the body cannot effectively control the level of glucose in the blood.

The Oramed Insulin Capsule is an orally ingestible softgel insulin capsule that the company believes will help Type 2 diabetics reduce their dependency on insulin shots and even prevent them from needing them at a later stage of the disease.

The capsule has been specially engineered to protect the insulin from the destructive effects of gastric juices. The insulin it delivers goes straight to the liver, which stores insulin and controls the dose being delivered to the body, and from there is sent out into the bloodstream.

“The advantage of this,” Kidron told ISRAEL21c, “is that the route of the insulin from our capsule imitates the real route taken by the body. When you inject insulin, it goes straight to the bloodstream, and the liver has no control over it. Hence, you become insulin dependent. In our case, the liver only releases the amount of insulin that the body needs. Our insulin complements the insulin that the body is already able to produce, so that a patient never becomes insulin dependent. It mimics the physiological delivery of insulin. It’s a real revolution.”

For more information: [email protected]
—Excerpts of an article by Nicky Blackburn, Israel21c
 

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