Biopharmaceutical Companies Developing Insulin Pills May Bring High Profits

[Northerner]

Diabetes, a chronic disease that occurs when the pancreas does not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces, affects 347 million people worldwide. People with Type 1 diabetes require regular injections of insulin; people with Type 2 diabetes can be treated with oral medication, however, during late stages of type 2 diabetes, when the pancreas can no longer produce insulin, they too will require Insulin injections. However, today a variety of companies are developing and testing a pill that would replace the pain of taking daily injections. The difficulty of creating an insulin pill is developing one that is strong enough to withstand the body's acid during digestion while being nimble enough to pass the filter of the gut wall to reach the liver. Today there are biopharmaceutical companies that are testing new therapies in delivering the much needed insulin orally instead of via injections. Financially there is good reason for these companies to develop an insulin pill; according to analyst Vincent Meunier, at Exane BNP Paribas in Paris, if successful, such a pill could reach peak sales of from $5 billion to $10 billion

http://seekingalpha.com/article/120...veloping-insulin-pills-may-bring-high-profits