Danbury’s Biodel Inc. won a two-year, $582,473 federal health innovation grant to devise a fast-acting synthetic insulin to use in an artificial pancreas being developed for diabetics.
The grant is from the Small Business Innovation Research program of the National Institutes of Health.
Biodel must devise concentrated ultra-rapid-acting insulin formulations for use in the artificial pancreas, also known as a closed loop pump system, authorities said Thursday.
Currently, regular insulin at concentrations of 500 units per milliliter is used to treat extremely insulin resistant diabetics, authorities said. While these formulations are five times more concentrated than typical insulin presentations, they are too strong to use with an artificial pancreas.
Biodel’s insulin formula is likely to be absorbed more rapidly and could become an important component of an effective step in the development of an artificial pancreas.
