California Firm Gets FDA OK to Test an Insulin Nasal Spray

Troublesome, sometimes painful injections of insulin that diabetics endure each day might be a thing of the past if tests on an insulin nasal spray are successful, a company said Monday.

The federal Food and Drug Administration gave California Biotechnology Inc. permission on Friday to start testing the nose spray on patients.

“Every diabetic has to inject himself one to three times a day,” David Lauck, director of regulatory affairs and clinical research for the company. “A product like this could help alleviate some of that.”

The nose spray could provide an alternative to shots for an estimated 3 million diabetics in the United States who rely on injections to keep them alive, and for an additional 2 million to 7 million who rely on diet or pills to control the disease, Lauck said.

Scientists have been trying to find an alternative to insulin injections for about 20 years. If tests are successful, the nasal spray, called Nazlin, could be marketable by late 1987, Lauck said.

Dr. Jeffrey Flier, chief of the diabetes and metabolism unit at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, which is collaborating with Biotechnology, said many diabetics must take injections before every meal.

“But the fact is that most patients don’t want to take an injection before every meal,” Flier said. “Most people don’t want to take one injection, let alone three injections.”

In addition to possibly eliminating injections, Lauck said nasal insulin is absorbed in the bloodstream faster than injections, which work by keeping a steady level of insulin in the bloodstream.