A team of scientists has developed a new device that delivers drugs without requiring needles or pills. Inspired by the octopus suckers, the researchers have already tested this patch in a short human trial.
According to media reports, the patch can stick to the inner lining of the cheek, stretch across it, and increase the absorption of an attached drug. The patch was tested on dogs and it successfully delivered two drugs — desmopressin and semaglutide — within three hours.
A version of this patch without a drug attached was also safely used by 40 human participants for 30 minutes while they were able to talk, move around, and even rinse their mouths with water.
However, scientists maintain that more development is needed for this patch to work more efficiently. It is noteworthy that the patch could represent a less invasive and more comfortable method of drug delivery. This can be remarkable, especially for larger drugs that are poorly absorbed by the digestive system and can normally only be injected using needles. The study was led by Jean-Christophe Leroux who is a professor of drug formulation and delivery at ETH Zurich.
According to the study authors, there are different ways of delivering large drugs to the body, for example via the nose or using microneedles applied to the skin or in capsules, which can be inefficient and difficult to make.
The scientists will now be exploring what would happen if the patch is used repeatedly.
The findings of the study were published in the journal Science Translational Medicine on Wednesday.
