Oramed announced last week that their oral insulin capsule is ready for Phase II trials in the US:
Oramed’s ORMD-0801 is an orally ingestible insulin capsule indicated for the early stages of type 2 diabetes, when it can still slow the rate of degeneration of the disease by providing additional insulin to the body and allowing pancreatic respite. Moreover, orally administered insulin has the potential benefit of enhanced patient compliance at this crucial stage as well as the advantage of mimicking insulin’s natural location and gradients in the body by first passing through the liver before entering the bloodstream.
Attempts at developing an oral insulin product go back to the 1990s. Several companies have tried, and failed, to develop such a product. Plus, API cost concerns resulted in a few companies dropping their programs.
We hope Oramed succeeds. Diabetes is an are where innovation is desperately needed. And even a “reformulated” insulin product would be a major shift in how we think about treating diabetes.
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