Smart medicine provides a variety of drugs throughout the day

Taking multiple medications on a complex schedule can quickly become as easy as swallowing a single capsule in the morning. Engineers at the University of California, San Diego have developed a capsule that contains multiple drugs and releases them accurately, pre-programmed time throughout the day.

This innovation could change the lives of millions of people who struggle with drug compliance, especially those who require strict timing among patients who dosage or manage multiple health conditions simultaneously.

“We wanted to simplify drug management with a single capsule that was smart enough to deliver the right medication at the right dose,” said study lead author Amal Abbas, a study’s first author, who is chemical engineering at the Jacobs School of Engineering at the University of California, San Diego.

Cleverly designed capsules hold medication in separate compartments, each capsule is programmed at predetermined intervals to release its contents. The barriers made of lactose and maltose matrixes embedded in pH-responsive polymers that shield the drug from gastric acid but dissolve in a more alkaline environment. By adjusting the density of the polymer, researchers can accurately control when each drug is released.

As a proof of concept, the team packed a capsule with three doses of levodopa, a Parkinson’s disease drug, each color with food dyes (yellow, green and red) to visually track its release. This experiment successfully demonstrated that capsules can deliver all three doses at different stages.

“Daily releases of multiple doses can really help patients with Parkinson’s disease,” Abbas explained. “If the drug levels drop too low, patients will experience tremors and other motor symptoms. But if we can keep that level stable, we can also help keep the patient’s movement stable.”

One of the most innovative features of the capsule is the incorporation of microscopic magnesium particles that can act as micro-agitators. These “microbots” (technology pioneered by the research team) react to gastric acid to produce hydrogen, which creates movement that helps dissolve drugs that require rapid absorption. The particles also temporarily neutralize gastric acid, creating a local alkaline environment that helps release subsequent drugs.

“This innovative daily capsule approach ensures that to improve patient outcomes, one-day compliance can be ensured,” said Joseph Wang, professor at Aiiso Yufeng li Yufeng li Family and nano Engineering.

All materials used in the capsule are FDA-approved, and Abbas said, “will help ensure easy conversion to market.” Recognizing the potential of the technology, she is launching a startup to accelerate its development and commercialization.

In addition to Parkinson’s disease, capsules can also revolutionize the treatment of diseases such as cardiovascular disease, which often requires complex regimens of multiple drugs that require a variety of timing requirements. Patients can receive morning aspirin, afternoon beta blockers and nighttime cholesterol drugs, all daily capsules.

Next steps include testing capsules in organisms, expanding manufacturing, expanding its capabilities into one day, and exploring targeted drug delivery in specific parts of the digestive tract, which could fundamentally change how we manage chronic diseases and complex drug treatment options.