This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Electronic Oral Drug-Delivery Capsule Aims to Transform GI Health Care
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
SAN FRANCISCO — Small bowel capsules are a technology in evolution with potential utility in targeted drug therapy, which could revolutionize health care, according to a presenter at the 6th annual American Gastroenterological Association Tech Summit.
Jeff Shimizu, chief technology officer and vice president of MediMetrics, said swallowed digital electronics are poised to pervade health care in the near future.
“Electronics can do a number of different things that we couldn’t do otherwise,” he said. “You can acquire information, aggregate information from different sources, use that information to change behavior over time … adapt based on the data that comes in and, of course, you can network — one device can talk to the next. [There are] a lot of interesting possibilities which expand once you start putting these things into action.”
Jeff Shimizu
According to Shimizu, MediMetrics’ CE-marked electronic oral drug-delivery pill, IntelliCap, is currently being used clinically in the United States and Europe for drug absorption studies. The capsule entails two pieces — an electronic end including a pH sensor, battery, wireless real-time, in-and-out communications, and a drug reservoir on the other side. The capsule is then put together, swallowed and passed through the body within 24 to 48 hours with no recovery required, he said. “We are loading drug on the capsule and using it to accurately deliver [drugs] to certain places in the GI tract, so pharma companies now have a reliable tool for studying drug absorption in the GI tract.”
Smart pharmaceuticals
The convergence of this technology with pharmacology and other fields is “where breakthrough opportunities exist,” Shimizu said. While collaboration between drug and device companies has been uncommon in the past, he said, it is increasing, and “bringing those elements together [can] create better outcomes.” In particular, MediMetrics’ current focus is to develop “smart pharmaceuticals” with drug companies, utilizing the concept of “adaptive delivery.”
The development of smart pharmaceuticals is in its early stages, Shimizu said, but next steps include exploring potential applications for customized drug delivery, communication with external diagnostic sources, onboard diagnostics and patient adherence monitoring.
A more specific potential application is for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease, a disease with unmet need that is localized in the GI tract, Shimizu said. “Take a therapeutic agent normally delivered systemically, and reposition it for topical delivery, so it becomes essentially more efficacious, and reduces side effects from systemic exposure.” In addition, the capsule could be used to assess, optimize and standardize drug formulation.
“We believe by taking this digital technology … and combining it with smart drug delivery, it is going to bring about a revolution in health care,” Shimizu said. “And that’s going to bring better outcomes, and allow patients to have more of a role and get personalized delivery of health care to improve their health status.” – by Adam Leitenberger
Reference:
Shimizu J. Presented at: American Gastroenterological Society Tech Summit, March 19-20, 2015; San Francisco.
Disclosure: Shimizu is an employee of MediMetrics.