Oral administration of therapeutic peptides is hindered by poor absorption across the gastrointestinal barrier and extensive degradation by proteolytic enzymes. Here, we investigated the absorption of orally delivered semaglutide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 analog, coformulated with the absorption enhancer sodium N-[8-(2-hydroxybenzoyl) aminocaprylate] (SNAC) in a tablet. In contrast to intestinal absorption usually seen with small molecules, clinical and preclinical dog studies revealed that absorption of semaglutide takes place in the stomach, is confined to an area in close proximity to the tablet surface, and requires coformulation with SNAC. SNAC protects against enzymatic degradation via local buffering actions and only transiently enhances absorption. The mechanism of absorption is shown to be compound specific, transcellular, and without any evidence of effect on tight junctions. These data have implications for understanding how highly efficacious and specific therapeutic peptides could be transformed from injectable to tablet-based oral therapies.

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The particle formation process is mainly governed by the PLGA precipitation rate, which is solvent-dependent, and the migration rate of celecoxib molecules during drying. The texture and surface chemistry of the spray-dried PLGA microparticles can therefore be tailored by adjusting the solvent composition.

BackgroundAcylation of peptide drugs with fatty acid chains has proven beneficial for prolonging systemic circulation as well as increasing enzymatic stability without disrupting biological potency. Acylation has furthermore been shown to increase interactions with the lipid membranes of mammalian cells. The extent to which such interactions hinder or benefit delivery of acylated peptide drugs across cellular barriers such as the intestinal epithelia is currently unknown. The present study investigates the effect of acylating peptide drugs from a drug delivery perspective.PurposeWe hypothesize that the membrane interaction is an important parameter for intestinal translocation, which may be used to optimize the acylation chain length for intestinal permeation. This work aims to characterize acylated analogues of the intestinotrophic Glucagon-like peptide-2 by systematically increasing acyl chain length, in order to elucidate its influence on membrane interaction and intestinal cell translocation in vitro.ResultsPeptide self-association and binding to both model lipid and cell membranes was found to increase gradually with acyl chain length, whereas translocation across Caco-2 cells depended non-linearly on chain length. Short and medium acyl chains increased translocation compared to the native peptide, but long chain acylation displayed no improvement in translocation. Co-administration of a paracellular absorption enhancer was found to increase translocation irrespective of acyl chain length, whereas a transcellular enhancer displayed increased synergy with the long chain acylation.ConclusionsThese results show that membrane interactions play a prominent role during intestinal translocation of an acylated peptide. Acylation benefits permeation for shorter and medium chains due to increased membrane interactions, however, for longer chains insertion in the membrane becomes dominant and hinders translocation, i.e. the peptides get ‘stuck’ in the cell membrane. Applying a transcellular absorption enhancer increases the dynamics of membrane insertion and detachment by fluidizing the membrane, thus facilitating its effects primarily on membrane associated peptides.

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The present work demonstrates the potential of spray dryer equipped with a 3-fluid nozzle in microencapsulation of proteins into PLGA matrices with different characteristics by varying process and formulation parameters.