[Infowarrior] - ‘Pharmacy on a chip’ passes test

[Richard Forno]

February 16, 2012 11:00 pm

‘Pharmacy on a chip’ passes test

By Clive Cookson in Vancouver

http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/6f31c8c8-5842-11e1-bf61-00144feabdc0.html?ftcamp=published_links/rss/world_us/feed//product

A wirelessly controlled implant, which delivers precise drug doses into the patient’s body, has had a successful first clinical trial, bringing the possibility of the “pharmacy on a chip” that could transform drug delivery closer.

Researchers used the microchip device to give seven women with osteoporosis daily doses of a bone-strengthening hormone that was normally injected. The results were announced at the start of the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting on Thursday.

The device could transform drug delivery and help usher in a new era of telemedicine – delivering healthcare over a distance – said Robert Langer, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where the project started 15 years ago.

“You could literally have a pharmacy on a chip,” he said. “You can do remote control delivery, you can do pulsatile drug delivery, and you can deliver multiple drugs.”

The trial was organised by MicroChips, the MIT spin-out company developing the technology, and carried out in Denmark where there is special expertise in hormone treatment of osteoporosis.

Unlike most drug delivery devices, which release medicine gradually, the new microchip releases doses at specified times. These can be preprogrammed into the device or triggered by a doctor using the wireless communications facility.

Although some diseases are best treated through continuous infusion, others such as osteoporosis and multiple sclerosis, do better with separate shots.

“Patients will be freed from having to remember to take their medication and don’t have to experience the pain of multiple injections,” said Robert Farra, president of MicroChips. “Physicians will be able seamlessly to adjust their patients’ therapy using a computer or mobile phone.”

The device, which is about the size of a heart pacemaker, holds daily doses of a drug inside tiny wells. Each well is covered with an ultra-thin metal membrane, which keeps the drug in place until an electric signal breaks the film and releases it into the patient.

In the Danish trial, the chips were implanted into the abdomen of seven women in their late 60s who were suffering from osteoporosis. The procedure took 30 minutes under local anaesthetic. The implants remained in the patients for four months and caused no adverse reactions.

The researchers triggered the release of 20 daily doses of a hormone treatment called teriparatide in the volunteers. Blood tests measuring biochemical markers of bone health showed that, delivered electronically, the drug improved bone formation and reduced the risk of fracture at least as well as conventional injections.

The company is following up the trial with a programme to develop an implant with a larger capacity, which could deliver hundreds of doses – enough to treat a patient for a year. Although it might be ready to file for regulatory approval in 2014, the device is unlikely to be commercially available before 2016.

The system would not be suitable for replacing insulin injections in diabetes, Dr Farra said, because the volumes of insulin required would be too great. But it should work for many other diseases including multiple sclerosis, cancer and chronic pain.

To make the technology even more useful, the MIT researchers plan to combine it with sensors that can detect biochemical changes in patients’ bodies, which could indicate how well the treatment is working and how much drug is needed.


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