Posted on: Tuesday, August 28, 2001

Diabetes pill shows promise

Associated Press

CHICAGO — Purdue University scientists believe they've found a way to make insulin for diabetics available in pills instead of daily shots.

Injections under the skin allow insulin to be absorbed slowly enough to control blood sugar levels. Efforts to control diabetes with insulin pills have failed because the body digests them much too quickly. The product has a new acrylic-based, gel-like coating on the pills that "can potentially overcome these barriers," said researcher Nicholas Peppas, a professor of chemical and biomedical engineering at Purdue.

The material he developed with graduate student Aaron Foss would allow pills to survive the harsh digestive acids in the stomach and let insulin seep into the bloodstream through the small intestine. About 16 million Americans suffer diabetes.