“You could deliver many different medicines at once, a pharmacy on a chip,’’ said Robert Langer, who led the work. “You could do . . . remote control delivery, kind of like ‘Star Trek.’ ’’
The technology opens the door to a tantalizing array of possibilities: devices that could be programmed to release a drug by a doctor from afar, or implants that could automatically sense when a diabetic person’s blood sugar levels were dangerously low and release a drug. But the device, being developed by a small Waltham company, MicroCHIPS Inc., is still far from changing how the medicine goes down.
It will take several years to develop and test the next generation of the technology before the company seeks regulatory approval. And the chip is not likely to change how all drugs are given. Ultimately, it will be limited by the types of drugs that can be usefully packaged on the tiny microchip.
The scientists chose to develop a device that administers an existing osteoporosis drug that stimulates bone formation, human paraythyroid hormone. It is potent, and the daily injections patients now get make compliance with the drug regimen a problem.
“I would say at least 25 percent of patients in whom I recommend this therapy are really stopped because of the need to inject,’’ said Dr. Felicia Cosman, an osteoporosis specialist in West Haverstraw, N.Y., who was not involved in the study.
“I do think that any new delivery systems which avoid the need to inject daily are really warranted.’’
In the study, published online in the journal Science Translational Medicine, eight women with osteoporosis were implanted with the devices. The chips were programmed to release doses once daily over 20 days, and all but one of them functioned. The scientists were able to monitor the drug in the body and found it was active similarly to when it was injected and increased bone formation - although in six patients, one or more of the doses were not released. The patients reported they would repeat the procedure to have the implant again.
