Researchers Discover New Technology to Speed Up Slow Intravenous Injections

SadaNews - Researchers say that there is a new technology that may allow for the rapid injection of medications that currently require slow intravenous injections.

Injecting patients with what is known as antibody drugs, commonly used to treat cancer, autoimmune diseases, and metabolic disorders, requires a large volume of fluids, meaning they must undergo prolonged intravenous drip, as antibodies, being proteins, remain stable only in solutions at low concentrations.

The researchers stated in the journal Translational Medicine Sciences that there is a new method to encapsulate proteins that allows them to be stored at high concentrations for delivery to patients using regular syringes or auto-injector devices.

To enable researchers to place proteins in a liquid at high concentrations while maintaining their stability and efficacy, they coated the tiny particles with a developed material called (Muni).

The researchers stated that the coating layer prevents the particles from dissolving or sticking together in the liquid, keeping them dry and stable.

Study leader Eric Abel from Stanford University stated in a press release, "We’ve got something like chocolate coated in candy, where the protein is inside and our special polymer forms a hard glassy layer on the outside."

In tests conducted using three different proteins, namely albumin, human immunoglobulin, and a monoclonal antibody for COVID treatment, the researchers were able to inject a solution with more than double the concentration of regular injection liquids.

Abel noted that the new method "is likely to work with any biological drug, so we can easily inject it." He added, "This transforms those treatments from a several-hour ordeal in the clinic with IV injections to something you can do in seconds using an auto-injector at home."