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New technologies used to aid a treatment for diabetes could improve healthcare for millions of sufferers.
A delivery agent known SNAC, developed by biopharmaceutical firm Emisphere Technologies, has been incorporated into tablets of GLP-1 peptide to asses how safely and effectively the treatment can be delivered.
The trial, run by Professor Christoph Beglinger of the University Hospital in Basel, Switzerland, found that that Emisphere’s Eligen technology allowed for rapid oral absorption of GLP-1.
The Eligen technology is based on the development of small organic delivery agents that interact non-covalently with macromolecules to enable their oral absorption.
Prof Beglinger’s study, conducted in 16 healthy male subjects, was designed to explore the pharmacodynamic effects of a single oral dose of GLP-1 administered 15 minutes prior to an oral glucose tolerance test.
The study demonstrated that the oral formulation of GLP-1 stimulated an early increase in fasting insulin and a decrease in fasting glucose as compared to placebo.
Prof Beglinger said: “An intravenous or subcutaneous application of GLP-1 is cumbersome and impractical for chronic treatment regimens. Oral application of peptides is, however, difficult as peptides have a low oral bioavailability due to their molecular size and physico-chemical characteristics.
“Emisphere’s oral delivery approach has been developed to overcome some of these issues.”
Emisphere has now entered a development and license agreement with Novo Nordisk A/S focused on the development of oral formulations of Novo Nordisk’s proprietary GLP-1 receptor agonists.
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