Bedford, MA., 4-13-06----Researchers at MicroCHIPS, Inc., have demonstrated for the first time that it is possible, using an implanted, microchip device and wireless technology, to actively control the release of drugs in the body over a prolonged period of time.

"This research is an important step toward development of novel drug delivery systems in which small devices filled with potent, therapeutic drugs are used to release medicines into the body as needed," said John Santini, PhD, president of MicroCHIPS.

Santini, along with Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professors Robert Langer, ScD and Michael J. Cima, PhD, began work on the concept of so-called "intelligent drug delivery devices" more than a decade ago.

Langer, Institute Professor at MIT, called the current publication a "landmark" study. "One could envision that, some day, many of a patient’s drugs could be placed on a chip programmed to release needed doses at precisely the right times," he said.

According to Sara Lipka, Senior Engineer at MicroCHIPS and co-lead author, "For the first month, we used a wireless signal to simultaneously release the drug from 10 reservoirs once a week. For the next two months, we simultaneously released doses from five reservoirs once every two weeks. For the last three months of the study, we simultaneously released doses from four reservoirs once a month.

In this way, "we demonstrated that we could control the release of drugs in the body via a wireless device and that it was possible to do so for at least six months," Lipka said.

Reservoir Technology
The current study, which used a microprocessor and a power source, demonstrates the feasibility of what Santini calls "active" reservoir control. According to Santini, while one important use of reservoirs is to contain drugs for release, reservoirs can also be used to selectively expose biosensors in order to monitor and provide feedback on conditions in a patient’s body. Biosensors may one day be interactively paired with drug delivery.

"Reservoir drug delivery systems should be especially useful if applied to congestive heart failure, diabetes, osteoporosis and orthopedics," Santini said.

MicroCHIPS plans to partner with pharmaceutical and medical device companies to identify "difficult-to-deliver" molecules that would be compatible with reservoir technology and to develop novel biosensors. In Santini’s words: "Reservoir technology is unique in that it can provide the basis for a stand-alone, intelligent medical device unlike anything available on the market or it can provide market differentiation for an existing product when incorporated as a new feature."