Needle-free treatment breakthrough

One of Australia's diabetes specialists has praised Sydney-based biotech company Apollo Life Sciences' work to develop an insulin that can be taken as a tablet rather than injected, calling needle-free insulin "the Holy Grail' in diabetes treatment.

Professor Paul Zimmet AO is director of the International Diabetes Institute, which will conduct clinical trials of Apollo's oral insulin.

"If the trials are successful, this could mean an end to injections for many people with diabetes," Zimmet said.

"Currently, people with insulin-requiring diabetes need up to 1500 insulin shots a year to stay alive."

Tests with diabetic rats have already indicated that Apollo's oral insulin works as effectively as injected insulin in lowering and managing blood sugar levels.

Apollo's Director of Science, Dr Greg Russell-Jones, said that the oral insulin is a major breakthrough because the stomach's digestive acids usually destroy insulin before it can be absorbed by the body.

"Apollo's formula overcomes this problem with a protective coating," Russell-Jones said.

Diabetes affects almost 1 million Australians, and 100,000 people develop the disease each year. This figure is predicted to grow as Type II diabetes becomes more prevalent.

"The Holy Grail remains the possibility of an oral form. There has been huge investment around the world, with very little success to date," Zimmet said.

"But Apollo has developed a technology that gets a significant amount of insulin through the stomach into the bloodstream."

05/10/2006