A Novel Capsule-Delivered Enteric Drug-Injection Device for Delivery of Systemic Biologics: A Pilot Study in a Porcine Model

Innovative swallowable capsule technologies such as drug-loaded, dissolvable microneedles, mucoadhesive patches, and various microdevices present unique drug-carrying capabilities to overcome challenges regarding oral delivery of biologics. Here, we report a swallowable capsule for intestinal drug delivery (SCIDD) with the potential of directly injecting biological therapeutics into the insensate small intestine wall. The design, optimization, and validation of the SCIDD's primary subsystems were performed both ex-vivo and in-vivo. The assembled capsule was further tested in vivo to validate the actuation sequence and showed a 70% (n = 17) success rate in an animal model. Additionally, a drug delivery study indicated systemic uptake of adalimumab via SCIDD compared with luminal delivery in the small intestine. The pilot study presented here establishes that the novel platform could be used to orally deliver systemic biologics.