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Insulin Patch In Pipeline For Diabetes
posted 04/29/04
An insulin patch can soon be a reality for SpectRx, expected
to release the first insulin patch soon.
Patients with depression and diabetes may soon join those getting pain relief,
birth control hormones and help quitting smoking through skin patches that can
deliver medication for days at a time.
Advances in technology, the advantages of continuous drug delivery and rising
patient acceptance are helping drive the growth of patches. Drug makers may also
be able to extend patent protection by delivering an existing drug through the
skin. Prescription patches were a $5 billion to $8 billion global business in
2003 -- coming a long way since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration first
approved a motion sickness patch in 1979.
The FDA recently gave conditional approval to a depression-treating patch,
expected to launch later this year. The EmSam patch, by Mylan Laboratories Inc.
unit Somerset Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc., is the first
patch in the huge antidepressant market.
SpectRx Inc. is launching a patch this summer that uses tiny needles to deliver
insulin from an attached pump, company spokesman Bill Wells said. SpectRx is
also developing a pumpless patch, he said.
Researchers are working on a variety of technologies, including ultrasound and
electrical charges, to force bigger molecules through the skin. These so-called
"active patches" could pave the way for delivering insulin to diabetics, as well
as red-cell stimulating erythropoietin for anemia patients, without injections.
Other companies, like Noven, Alza Corporation and Altea Therapeutics, are also
working on making patches thinner, smaller and able to carry larger doses.
For patients with chronic conditions, patches can replace the need to take pills
every day by providing a steady release of medication for longer periods of
time.
Source: Diabetes In Control.com.
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