Inventor: Dr. Xiaoyi Chen, Chemistry
The inventor has developed a new technique for stabilising drug formulations. This technique would allow drugs such as insulin and semaglutide to be transported and stored without needing refrigeration, which would increase the access to such drugs in countries without reliable refrigeration chains, and long-term should help reduce the cost as well.
Currently insulin is manufactured globally in large quantities, but transportation and storage requirements make it relatively expensive. Insulin also loses its efficacy if not stored properly, meaning that cold chain monitoring is needed to ensure that the correct doses are taken. While there is an existing powder form with a shelf life of over 12 months, this needs to be dissolved fully before it can be injected. For other types of drugs, tablet forms tend to be much less effective, needing higher doses to be given – this increases the cost when drug compounds themselves are expensive to manufacture, and also often results in more side effects.
The new technique involves storing the drug as a resin which can be stored safely for up to 8 days at room temperature. Under these same conditions traditional insulin would lose its efficacy in just 12 hours. The resin is low cost and reuseable, and 1g of resin can store a whole year’s supply of insulin.
This technique would allow a single use injectable pen to be used to deliver the drug, or eventually a refillable pen.
The challenge for the i-Team is to investigate the best target drugs for this new method, as well as identifying the appropriate route to follow to bring such a technique to market with new and existing drug treatments.