Generex and Fertin announce diabetes gum collaboration

Generex, a biotechnology firm who have become market leaders in the buccal drug delivery field, have announced an association with Fertin Pharma. Fertin are a world leading medicinal chewing gum developer and manufacturer. Their aim? The development of a metformin chewing gum specifically designed for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus and even obesity .
Metformin is a popular generic drug that is used to regulate glucose levels in the bloodstream. Metformin also serves to reduce the amount of glucose absorbed from food in the stomach and makes the insulin already produced by the body function more effectively. The US market sales of Metformin sit around $1.8 billion.
The aim of the collaboration is to combine the platform techniques developed by Generex to deliver drugs bucally with Fertin’s obvious knowledge of gum base formulations.
The result will hopefully be a medicinal gum that delivers metformin into the body via the buccal mucosa. In theory, the new delivery method will be more rapid, specific and effective. The adverse side effects that are association with metformin include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and others. Hopefully, these will be averted in the new form.