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Managing complex medication schedules could soon become as simple as taking a single capsule each day. Engineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a capsule that can be packed with multiple medications and release them at designated times throughout the day.

The advance, published in , could help improve medication adherence and health outcomes by eliminating the need for patients to remember taking multiple drugs or doses at various times each day. It could potentially reduce the risk of missed doses or accidental overdoses.

“We want to simplify medication management with a single capsule that is smart enough to deliver the right drug at the right dose at the right time,” said study first author Amal Abbas, who recently earned her Ph.D. in chemical engineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. She spearheaded this work with Joseph Wang, a professor in the Aiiso Yufeng Li Family Department of Chemical and Nano Engineering at UC San Diego. Seeing its potential benefits to patients as well as their caregivers, Abbas is launching a startup company to accelerate the development and commercialization of the capsule.

Inside the capsule, multiple medications are packed in separate compartments. Each is designed to release its contents at a predetermined time. The medications are separated by barriers made of a lactose and maltose matrix embedded with a pH-responsive polymer. This polymer shields the medications from stomach acid but dissolves in a more alkaline environment. By adjusting the density of this polymer, researchers can control how long it takes for each barrier to dissolve, ensuring that medications are released at precisely timed intervals.

The capsule’s outer shell consists of a body and cap made from vegetable cellulose. The capsule’s main body, where the medication compartments are housed, is protected by a pH-responsive polymer. The cap, which is unprotected, dissolves as soon as it lands in the stomach, which initiates the release of the first drug.

Timing isn’t the capsule’s only clever feature. The researchers also incorporated microscopic magnesium particles that function as tiny stirrers and last for a short time inside the body. They react with stomach acid to generate a stream of hydrogen bubbles—this movement stirs the capsule’s contents and makes the drug easier to dissolve, which is especially useful for medications that require rapid uptake, such as pain relievers, cardiovascular drugs or emergency treatments. The magnesium particles serve another function: they neutralize stomach acid, which temporarily creates a localized alkaline environment. This helps dissolve the pH-responsive polymer barriers to initiate release of the next drugs in line.

“This innovative daily capsule approach ensures day-long full compliance towards improved patient outcomes,” said Wang.

Wang’s research group has pioneered the use of microsized particles such as these—which they’ve dubbed microrobots—for therapeutic purposes. They were the first to translate microrobots into living animal models, demonstrating their potential in treating a range of conditions, including lung infections and diseases that require intensive care. Their experience with microrobots laid the foundation for incorporating similar technology into the timed-release capsule.

All materials used to make the capsule are FDA approved. “This will help ensure an easy translation to market,” said Abbas.

As a proof of concept, the researchers packed a capsule with three doses of levodopa, a medication for Parkinson’s disease. Each dose was color-coded with food dye—yellow, green and red—to visually track its release in simulated stomach conditions. The first dose, which was housed in a compartment containing magnesium stirrers, was designed for rapid release. The second and third doses, housed in compartments without the stirrers, were released at intermediate and slow rates, respectively. The experiment successfully demonstrated that the capsule could deliver drugs in distinct phases.

The team chose a Parkinson’s disease medication as a test case for their capsule since it needs to be taken consistently every few hours to keep symptoms under control. “This timed release of multiple doses could really help patients with Parkinson’s disease,” said Abbas. “If the drug level dips too low, patients will experience tremors and other motor symptoms. But if we can keep that level steady, we can also help keep a patient’s movement stable. Our capsule has the potential to ensure this stability throughout the day—so patients don’t have to worry about timing every dose perfectly.”

Abbas also sees potential in using this capsule for combination therapies. Cardiovascular disease, for example, often requires patients to take a combination of aspirin, beta blockers and cholesterol-lowering drugs—each with its own dosing schedule. By tailoring the capsule’s compartments to release these medications in a precisely timed sequence, patients could receive their aspirin in the morning, their beta blocker in the afternoon, and their cholesterol medication at night—all from a single capsule. This approach could ensure that each drug is delivered when it is most effective, potentially reducing side effects and optimizing therapeutic benefits.

Next steps include in vivo testing; scaling up fabrication; extending the capsule’s release capabilities beyond a single day; and exploring localized drug release within the gut for targeted therapies.

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