Sublin aims to improve the life of millions of people
The number of patients suffering from diabetes with insulin-dependency is steadily increasing, making multiple and daily insulin injections more common than ever before. Sublin BV is developing a novel nanotechnology formulation that aims to makes insulin accessible via the mouth using our proprietary nano-encapsulation technology. The strength of our proprietary nanotechnology platform is its adjustable, stable and Safe-by-Design formulation possibilities.
Curious about our nanotechnology platform? Contact us for any question, inquiry or comment.
Diabetes is a metabolic disorder caused either due to a lower insulin secretion by the cells or to a lower action of insulin due to impaired signaling of the insulin receptor pathway referred as insulin resistance resulting in high blood glucose level. Diabetes disease has been categorized as type I and type II. Type I Diabetes is insulin dependent condition, characterized by deficiency of insulin due to the destruction of insulin-producing beta cells of Langerhans’s islets in the pancreas by the autoimmune system. Type II Diabetes is distinguished as pathological condition involving insulin resistance, overproduction and release of glucose by the liver and impaired insulin secretion due to defects in insulin receptor on cell membranes.
Currently, treatment of diabetes needs constant monitoring of the blood glucose level, regulating it through modified dietary sugar intake, physical exercise and pharmacological interventions like non-insulins (e.g. metformin) and insulin therapy to attain normoglycemic levels. Patients suffering from insulin-dependent diabetes (Type I and 20% of type II diabetic patients) require multiple and daily subcutaneous injections of insulin. Typically, a diabetic patient receives a daily injection of a long-acting insulin for an extended action during the day and an injection of a rapid-action insulin before every meal. Disadvantages of subcutaneous administration of insulin are hypoglycemia, peripheral hyperinsulinemia, lipoatrophy, lipohyperatrophy, obesity due to intensive therapy, insulin neuropathy and insulin presbyopia.
Current dosage of injectable insulin, required to maintain acceptable serum glucose level, comprises up to four subcutaneous injections per day everyday which can cause psychological stress to the patients. Clinical studies showed that, a significant percentage of patients failed to attain lasting glycemic control. Well-recognized reasons for this failure include poor compliance of the patients for injections, and physiological reasons related to parenteral administration, which does not recreate the normal dynamic of endogenous insulin release with a first hepatic targeting.
Thus, focusing on the alternative route of administration (oral) or reducing the injection doses are beneficial to reduce the inconvenience and drawbacks associated with this conventional method. Furthermore, orally delivered insulin reaches systemic circulation after passing through the liver similar to the physiological insulin secretion while injected insulin may result in peripheral hyperinsulinemia and associated complications. However, major obstructions in developing oral or pulmonary insulin formulations are either enzymatic barriers or physical barriers (i.e. intestinal epithelium or nasal mucosa), which has to be overcome. Insulin, a 51-amino acid protein, can get deteriorated or deactivated by gastric pH and intestinal enzymes, and even intestinal epithelial cell membranes serve as absorption barrier for intact peptide structure resulting in less than 1 % bioavailability of insulin taken orally. Taken together, restrictions like; fragile nature and short half-lives of proteins serve as extra barriers in the formulation of oral insulin dosage forms. Sublin's solution aims to overcome these hurdles to provide an effective, comfortable and safe sublingual insulin formulation.
