Oral and buccal insulin for diabetes - horizon scanning review
NHSC
Record Status
This is a bibliographic record of a published health technology assessment from a member of INAHTA. No evaluation of the quality of this assessment has been made for the HTA database.
Citation
NHSC. Oral and buccal insulin for diabetes - horizon scanning review. Birmingham: National Horizon Scanning Centre (NHSC). New and Emerging Technology Briefing. 2001
Authors' objectives
To summarise the current research evidence on oral and buccal insulin for diabetes.
Authors' conclusions
One buccal and three oral formulations of insulin are known to be in clinical development. There is no information on equivalence to injected insulin, long-term benefits or cost at the present time
- Clinical impact: The use of oral/buccal insulin is an innovative development that may impact on the quality of life of a large proportion of people with diabetes. Many of the potential benefits appear, at this stage, to be in terms of patient convenience, compliance and satisfaction. It is not known whether any subgroups of people with diabetes will accrue an additional health benefit from the introduction of any of these insulin products.
- Service impact: The use of these insulin formulations will require training of all staff involved, and the swap from injectable to oral/buccal insulin will require careful monitoring of glycaemic control and potential side effects such as hypoglycaemia.
- Patient issues: Many people with diabetes who require insulin injections will welcome this innovation and may be interested in gaining quick access to this technology.
- Financial and overall NHS impact: It is impossible to predict the overall cost of oral/buccal insulin at this time. The costs may, however, be significant because of the number of patients. At this stage it is unclear if there will be any significant long-term health benefits or savings.
The NIHR Horizon Scanning Centre, Department of Public Health, Epidemiology, and Biostatistics, School of Health and Population Sciences, University of Birmingham, 90 Vincent Drive, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2SP. United Kingdom. Tel: +44 121 414 7831, Fax: +44 121 2269 Email: c.packer@bham.ac.uk