Intestinal patch systems for oral drug delivery.

Intestinal patches provide a unique platform for oral delivery of drugs which possess poor oral bioavailability, necessitating their administration by injections. Intestinal patch based devices prevent drug degradation in the gastrointestinal tract, facilitate their intestinal absorption through forming a localized drug depot at the delivery site and provide unidirectional, controlled drug release while preventing luminal drug loss. Consequently, intestinal patch-based devices are being developed for oral delivery of several drugs such as insulin, exenatide, calcitonin, interferon-α, erythropoietin and human granulocyte colony-stimulating factor for the treatment of diabetes, osteoporosis, hepatitis or for chemotherapy. This technology shows promise as a needle-free alternative to injectable drugs that would improve the quality of lives of millions of people requiring chronic administration of injectable drugs.