Replacing injections with pills?

A new paper explores a better way of delivering medications that does not require injections but could be as easy as swallowing a pill.

Coauthor Dr Christine Beeton said: “We explored the possibility of using the probiotic bacterium Lactobacillus reuteri as a novel oral drug delivery platform to treat rheumatoid arthritis in an animal model.”

Previous work from the Beeton lab shows that a peptide, or short protein, derived from sea anemone toxin effectively and safely reduces disease severity in rat models of rheumatoid arthritis and patients with plaque psoriasis.

However, peptide treatment requires repeated injections, reducing patient compliance, and direct oral delivery of the peptide has low efficacy. bit.ly/3GwJuBL

Beeton joined forces with Dr Robert A Britton, a Professor of Molecular Virology and Microbiology, who has developed the tools to genetically modify probiotic bacteria to produce and release compounds. The team bioengineered the probiotic L. reuteri to secrete peptide ShK-235 derived from sea anemone toxin.

Daily delivery of these peptidesecreting bacteria dramatically reduced clinical signs of disease.

The findings provide an alternative delivery strategy for peptide-based drugs and suggest that such techniques and principles can be applied to a broader range of drugs and the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases.

Nykode Therapeutics, a clinicalstage biopharmaceutical company, has entered into a strategic manufacturing partnership with Richter-Helm to supply plasmid DNA for Nykode’s wholly owned and partnered product portfolio. “As a leading manufacturer of DNA vaccines, they will provide the long-term expertise and capacity needed to support our ambitious growth and pipeline development,” said Mette Husbyn, Nykode Therapeutics ie ec nolo y Officer nykode.com

n arti cial intelli ence tool t at provides a quick and comprehensive analysis of the heart’s function could improve future cardiovascular care by aiding earlier diagnosis and giving more detailed information about the heart’s function. Developed by re earc er at effield eac in Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and t e ni er ity o effield t e tool detects chambers of t e eart on images – performing in seconds tasks that would involve lengthy manual analysis. sth.nhs.uk