Painless Blood Sugar Testing Kit to be Manufactured by Becton Dickinson

PRNewswire

Cygnus, Inc. has announced that it will be working with Becton Dickinson to develop a revolutionary method to test blood glucose using a painless, bloodless, and automatic glucose monitoring device. 

The GlucoWatch is a monitoring device which has the potential to enable people with diabetes to track their sugar levels 24 hours a day.  Worn like a wrist-watch, the GlucoWatch is designed to monitor glucose levels, with features like automatic data collection, an electronic memory, personal computer

downloading, and alarms to indicate hypo- and hyperglycemia conditions.  By generating an abundance of glucose measurements each day, the GlucoWatch will have potential to improve the management of diabetes.

Factors such as timely development, government approval, and introduction and acceptance of the GlucoWatch may or may not present problems to the companies. 

"We have made great strides in the development of the GlucoWatch so we are particularly gratified that Becton-Dickinson has expressed its confidence in our unique technology," states Gregory B. Lawless, President and CEO of Cygnus, Inc.

Phase I Oral Insulin Trial Shows Positive Signs
PSL Consulting Group, Inc.

U.K. based pharmaceutical company, Cortecs International, announced that its Phase I trial of its Macrulin (TM) oral insulin formulation was presented at a conference held in Stockholm, Sweden last month. 

The trial included six healthy subjects who received Macrulin or oral placebo via a tube passing through the mouth into the upper intestine.  Each subject was studied twice, once receiving placebo and once receiving a dose of Macrulin in randomized order.  The subjects were simultaneously administered a glucose solution intravenously.  Blood samples were collected before starting the experiment and at timed intervals afterwards.  The results showed that after administration of Macrulin, the subjects' insulin levels in the blood increased and glucose levels decreased.  Phase IIa of the study is set to begin soon.