Since the discovery of insulin, continuous developments of this peptide have led to better management of diabetes mellitus, thus leading to a decrease in diabetes-related mortality. Despite these developments, we have seen an increase in diabetes cases, which has further necessitated for more innovative methods of diabetes management. The subcutaneous administration of insulin remains the mainstay therapy for type 1 diabetes mellitus. However, despite the availability of insulin analogues with improved pharmacokinetics, challenges with the conventional administration exists. The challenges associated with insulin injections include hypoglycaemic episodes, needle phobia, and injection-site inflammation which all have been reported to reduce patient compliance. Ongoing research on diabetes management strives to develop therapies that provide improved glycaemic control with minimal side effects. It is, in part, for these reasons that we have seen an increase in the search and development of alternative insulin delivery systems that are envisaged to circumvent the shortfalls associated with the conventional administration route. In the last century, several alternative drug delivery systems such as oral, pulmonary, buccal, nasal and transdermal have been explored. These efforts have not been without victory, as we have seen the emergence of pulmonary (Exubera and Afrezza) and buccal insulin delivery systems licenced for therapeutic use. Despite the success seen in these two systems, their marketability and popularity have been severely compromised due to reported safety concerns. Although oral insulin delivery has always shown promise in the past decades, however it was only limited to preclinical trials. The main challenge associated this with delivery route is poor bioavaialabiltiy which necessitates high insulin concentration to be administered. Recent developments have however seen oral insulin reaching phase 3 clinical trials. It is believed that patients would welcome oral insulin as their preference is often observed for oral antidiabetics over injected ones. In the last decade, transdermal insulin has also gained interest, where delivery of insulin with concomitant reducation in blood glucose concentration have been demonstrated in vivo. However, at present, there are no clinical studies that have reported the efficacy of transdermal insulin administration With technological advancement, there is a potential to develop yet another insulin delivery system which would likely enter the markets. Although these novel delivery systems are welcome, however, emerging competing products should be welcome and appreciated