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Gel protects therapeutic proteins from deactivation — even in the post

The need to keep therapeutic proteins, such as insulin, constantly cold can limit access to life-saving medicines. An advanced gel offers a possible solution to this issue — and might solve problems beyond health-care logistics.
  1. Yanxian Zhang

    1. Yanxian Zhang is in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California 94304, USA, and at the Stanford Diabetes Research Center, Stanford University.

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  2. Danny Hung-Chieh Chou

    1. Danny Hung-Chieh Chou is in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes, Stanford University, Palo Alto, California 94304, USA, and at the Stanford Diabetes Research Center, Stanford University.

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More than half of the top ten drugs sold in 2023 were therapeutic proteins1. Nonetheless, these medicines have a drawback: they are temperature-sensitive, and therefore need to be kept consistently cold throughout their journey from production to use. Addressing this need requires stringent infrastructure, procedures and technologies — collectively known as cold-chain management. However, such management is expensive and resource-intensive, restricting access to life-saving therapeutics, such as insulin2, in some countries. Writing in Nature, Bianco et al.3 present an innovative yet simple strategy to store and deliver proteins in gels. Their method requires minimal resources, offering a potential solution to the challenge of cold-chain management in low-income countries.

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Nature 631, 507-508 (2024)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-024-02233-8

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Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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