This was published 7 years ago
End of the daily pill as scientists find way to administer dose that lasts for weeks
By Sarah Knapton
The end of daily medication is on the horizon after scientists invented a pill which steadily releases drugs over two weeks.
Experts are hopeful it could help people stick to inconvenient drugs regimes, particularly the elderly or those with dementia or mental health problems who struggle to remember to take their medicine.
Experts are hopeful the new pill will help people stick to inconvenient drug regimes. Credit: Louie Douvis
The capsule looks like a pill but when swallowed it opens up into a star shape so that it does not pass through the stomach.
It then gradually releases the drug into the body over a fortnight before breaking up and passing out of the body.
So far it has been tested with the malaria drug ivermectin, but scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard and Imperial College are hopeful it could eventually be used for many drugs, including those to help diabetes, HIV, Alzheimer's disease and epilepsy.
"Until now, oral drugs would almost never last for more than a day," Professor Robert Langer, a member of MIT team that developed the pill in the US.
"This really opens the door to ultra-long-lasting oral systems, which could have an effect on all kinds of diseases, such as Alzheimer's or mental health disorders. There are a lot of exciting things this could someday enable."
The breakthrough, which has been funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, was triggered after Bill Gates visited MIT and asked whether a pill could be made that delivered a whole course of treatment for disease like malaria.
Scientists needed to come up with a capsule which was stable enough to survive the harsh environment of the stomach, while releasing its contents consistently over time. The team designed a star-shaped structure with drug molecules loaded into the arms.
After the capsule is swallowed, acid in the stomach dissolves the outer layer of the capsule, allowing the six arms to unfold. Once the star expands, it is large enough to stay in the stomach and resist the forces that would normally push an object further down the digestive tract. However, it is not large enough to cause any harmful blockage of the digestive tract.
Future versions of the capsule are expected to provide even longer lasting drug delivery spanning a month or more.
It is also hoped it will improve adherence to treatment regimes. Around half of people with chronic illnesses do not take their medication regularly.
We want to make it as easy as possible for people to take their medications over a sustained period of time.
Andrew Boaden, Senior Policy Officer at Alzheimer's Society
Andrew Boaden, Senior Policy Officer at Alzheimer's Society, said: "Seven in 10 people with dementia have at least one other health condition such as diabetes and heart disease, which often means they are taking a cocktail of different drugs throughout the day.
"Innovations that allow treatments to be taken less frequently have the potential to help people with dementia avoid missing their medication and falling sick. It's important to note that we don't yet know whether this method could be used for specific medications and dementia treatments – this would require further testing."
The pill has so far been trialled using the drug ivermectin, which kills any mosquito that bites a person who is taking the drug.
Experts at Imperial College London modelled the potential impact of the approach and found that a mass drug administration programme to 70 per cent of the population would have the same impact as treating 90 per cent with antimalarials.
But closer to home it could have a huge impact for people forced to take pills on a daily basis.
Co-author Dr Giovanni Traverso, from Harvard Medical School, said: "We want to make it as easy as possible for people to take their medications over a sustained period of time.
"When patients have to remember to take a drug everyday or multiple times a day, we start to see less and less adherence to the regimen. Being able to swallow a capsule once a week or once a month could change the way we think about delivering medications."
The research is reported in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
The Telegraph, London