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
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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.



Kenya Court Convicts 4 Ant Traffickers, Including Belgian Teens, Fines Each $7,700

FILE PHOTO: Samples of garden ants concealed in syringes are presented to court, at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) Law Courts, in Nairobi, Kenya, April 15, 2025. REUTERS/Monicah Mwangi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Samples of garden ants concealed in syringes are presented to court, at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) Law Courts, in Nairobi, Kenya, April 15, 2025. REUTERS/Monicah Mwangi/File Photo
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Kenya Court Convicts 4 Ant Traffickers, Including Belgian Teens, Fines Each $7,700

FILE PHOTO: Samples of garden ants concealed in syringes are presented to court, at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) Law Courts, in Nairobi, Kenya, April 15, 2025. REUTERS/Monicah Mwangi/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Samples of garden ants concealed in syringes are presented to court, at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) Law Courts, in Nairobi, Kenya, April 15, 2025. REUTERS/Monicah Mwangi/File Photo

A Kenyan court on Wednesday fined four men $7,700 each for attempting to traffic thousands of ants out of the country, in a case that wildlife experts say signals a shift in biopiracy from iconic animals like elephants to lesser-known species.

Authorities arrested two Belgian teenagers, a Vietnamese man and a Kenyan national on April 5, accusing them of trying to smuggle roughly 5,440 giant African harvester ant queens, which Kenyan prosecutors valued at around 1.2 million Kenyan shillings ($9,300).

However, retail prices in the UK suggest the haul may have fetched as much as $1 million if it had reached European shores, where ant keepers maintain colonies in large transparent vessels known as formicariums to observe their cooperative behavior.

Magistrate Njeri Thuku ordered the traffickers, who all pleaded guilty, to pay the fine or face 12 months in jail.