Why don’t we have insulin in
a pill? Because the stomach digests it
before it gets into the bloodstream. Pharmaceutical companies have long been working to overcome this
barrier, but until now, the little bit that made it into the bloodstream was
insufficient to make a difference. Until
now… maybe, hopefully! Clinical trial
results on a new insulin pill called Intesulin
have just been released showing that it is 60-70% as effective as injected
insulin. It lowered glucose levels
comparably, and kept those levels steady for patients throughout the day.

At the American Diabetes
Association conference this weekend, Coremed, Inc. announced new clinical

trial
results on Intesulin in two “proof of principle” studies with Type 2 diabetics.
In both studies, Intesulin was compared to a placebo (“blank” pill) also to
Aspart analog (short-acting injected) insulin. Patients showed a significant decline
in C-peptide and rise in insulin levels, meaning their insulin resistance was
being suppressed. Intesulin has a first insulin peak at 30 minutes, compared to
Aspart, which peaks at 60 minutes. Overall, patients showed an average decline
of 30% in their daily average glucose levels. There wasn’t a single incidence
of gastrointestinal irritations, adverse effects or hypoglycemia (low blood
sugar), the company reports.

Last year, Coremed, Inc.
also signed a joint venture partnership agreement with China-based Wanbang and
Fosun pharmas to develop its Alveair (TM) inhalable insulin,
which is also looking quite promising as an eventual competitor to Pfizer’s
Exubera.

Thursday, June 15th, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (7)