Scientists Create ‘Robotic Pill’ to Treat Osteoporosis

An illustration picture taken in Lille on May 7, 2017 shows pills, tablets, caplets and capsules of medicine. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUEN
An illustration picture taken in Lille on May 7, 2017 shows pills, tablets, caplets and capsules of medicine. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUEN
TT
20

Scientists Create ‘Robotic Pill’ to Treat Osteoporosis

An illustration picture taken in Lille on May 7, 2017 shows pills, tablets, caplets and capsules of medicine. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUEN
An illustration picture taken in Lille on May 7, 2017 shows pills, tablets, caplets and capsules of medicine. / AFP PHOTO / PHILIPPE HUGUEN

A proven and effective medication for osteoporosis, which is currently only available as an injection, can be administered orally using a novel “robotic pill”, according to a study presented Saturday at ENDO 2023, the Endocrine Society's annual meeting in Chicago.

“We believe this study provides the first clinical evidence of safe and successful delivery of the osteoporosis drug teriparatide through an oral robotic pill,” said Arvinder Dhalla, who leads Clinical Development at Rani Therapeutics, the company that developed the technology. “Data from this study are very encouraging and should give hope to those suffering from chronic conditions that require painful injections, like osteoporosis,” she added.

When a person swallows the robotic pill, it moves through the stomach intact. In the intestine the pill releases a self-inflating balloon with a microsyringe, which injects a drug-filled microneedle and delivers the medication.

“The intestines do not have pain response to needles, so the injection is painless. The needle rapidly dissolves, and the medication is absorbed while the delivery mechanism deflates and is safely passed out of the body,” Dhalla explained.

“The robotic pill, which is essentially a swallowable auto-injector in the form of a pill, is designed to deliver the drug safely and efficiently as a painless intestinal injection,” she said.

The study of 39 healthy women evaluated the safety, tolerability and movement through the body of the robotic pill known as RT-102, containing a dose of the drug teriparatide (PTH 1-34).

Teriparatide is a synthetic form of the natural human parathyroid hormone. It has been in clinical use for decades as an injectable medication (under the brand name Forteo) for rebuilding brittle bones of osteoporosis patients. It is taken as a daily injection for up to two years.

Study participants were divided into three groups. Two groups received either a lower or higher dose delivered with the robotic pill, and the third group received a standard injection of teriparatide. Fluoroscopic imaging was used to track the robotic pill through and out the body. Drug concentrations were measured in blood samples collected over six hours.

The study found the bioavailability (the ability of the drug to be absorbed and used by the body) of the drug delivered by the robotic pill was comparable to or better than the drug given via the injection.

“This breakthrough technology of converting injections into oral pills is a significant step forward towards ending the burden of painful injections for millions of patients suffering from chronic diseases,” Dhalla concluded.



Eastern Half of US Braces for More Long Days of Dangerous Heat

A kid cools off in Crown Fountain in Millennium Park as temperatures climbed to over 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius), in Chicago, Illinois, on June 21, 2025. (Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / AFP)
A kid cools off in Crown Fountain in Millennium Park as temperatures climbed to over 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius), in Chicago, Illinois, on June 21, 2025. (Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / AFP)
TT
20

Eastern Half of US Braces for More Long Days of Dangerous Heat

A kid cools off in Crown Fountain in Millennium Park as temperatures climbed to over 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius), in Chicago, Illinois, on June 21, 2025. (Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / AFP)
A kid cools off in Crown Fountain in Millennium Park as temperatures climbed to over 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius), in Chicago, Illinois, on June 21, 2025. (Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / AFP)

Tens of millions of people across the Midwest and East braced Sunday for another sweltering day of dangerously hot temperatures as a rare June heat wave continued to grip parts of the US.

Most of the northeastern quadrant of the country from Minnesota to Maine was under some type of heat advisory Sunday. So were parts of Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana and Mississippi, The Associated Press reported.

The temperature had already reached 80 degrees Fahrenheit (26.6 degrees Celsius) in the Chicago area by 7:30 a.m. Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. Forecasts called for heat indices of between 100 and 105 degrees F (37.7 to 40.5 degrees C).

The heat index in Pittsburgh was expected to top 105 F. The temperature in Columbus, Ohio, was 77 F (25 C) at 8:30 a.m. Highs there were expected to reach 97 F (36 C) with a heat index around 104 F (40 C).

Forecasts called for a heat index of 100 F in Philadelphia on Sunday, with a 108 F (42.2 C) heat index on Monday.

The city’s public health department declared a heat emergency starting at noon Sunday and ending Wednesday evening. Officials directed residents to air-conditioned libraries, community centers and other locations, and set up a “heat line” staffed by medical professionals to discuss conditions and illnesses made worse by the heat. At Lincoln Financial Field, officials said each fan attending Sunday’s FIFA World Cup match would be allowed to bring in one 20-ounce (0.6-liter) plastic bottle of water.

Sunday marked the second straight day of extreme heat across the Midwest and East Coast. Heat indices on Saturday hit 103 F (39.4 C) in Chicago and 101 F (38.3 C) in Madison, Wisconsin, turning that city's annual naked bike ride into a sticky and sweaty affair.

Minneapolis baked under a heat index of 106 F (41.1 C). The actual temperature was 96 degrees F (35.5 degrees C), which broke the old record for the date of 95 F (35 C) set in 1910, according to the weather service.

The heat is expected to persist into the coming week, with the hottest temperatures shifting eastward. New York City is expected to see highs around 95 F (35 C) on Monday and Tuesday. Boston is on track for highs approaching 100 F (37.7 C) on Tuesday, and temperatures in Washington, D.C., were expected to hit 100 F on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Meteorologists say a phenomenon known as a heat dome, a large area of high pressure in the upper atmosphere that traps heat and humidity, is responsible for the extreme temperatures.

Mark Gehring, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Sullivan, Wisconsin, said this level of heat is not uncommon during the summer months in the US, although it usually takes hold in mid-July or early August. The most unusual facet of this heat wave is the sheer amount of territory sweltering under it, he said.

“It's basically everywhere east of the Rockies,” he said, referring to the Rocky Mountains. “That is unusual, to have this massive area of high dewpoints and heat.”