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This octopus-inspired patch could deliver drugs like Ozempic through your cheek

Small rubber suction cups filled with medication were better than tablets at delivering compounds into the bloodstream.
  1. Miryam Naddaf
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Common octopus (Octopus vulgaris) at Frankfurt Zoo in Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany.

Octopus suckers have inspired a drug-delivery approach. Credit: VPC Animals Photo/Alamy

Researchers have designed sticky patches, inspired by octopus suckers, that can deliver difficult-to-absorb drugs through a person’s inner cheek.

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-03050-1

References

  1. Luo, Z., Cerrejon, D. K., Römer, S., Zoratto, N. & Leroux, J.-C. Sci. Transl. Med. 15, eabq1887 (2023).

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