A self-triggering and fully sustainable gastric device enabling long-acting oral delivery of macromolecules.

Authors

Chengbang Lu, Zede Yi, Hongyan Yuan, Haoying Wang, Kewen Lei, Weijie Li, Xianglin Wu, Weixuan Liu, Yunxiang Zhang, Teng Dong, Kai Wu, Yaoben Wang, Shuquan Cui, Yue Zhao, Yingning He, U Kei Cheang, Tian Liu, Yancong Zhang, Tianyuan Ci, Yiyuan Yang, Xiangyu Liang

Published in

Science advances. Volume 12. Issue 35. Pages eaef9186. Aug 28, 2026. Epub Aug 28, 2026.

Abstract

Long-acting oral delivery of macromolecular therapeutics remains difficult, as most oral delivery devices focus on improving gastrointestinal absorption but do not adequately address sustained drug release and frequent dosing. In parallel, many gastric-retentive systems rely on nondegradable structural components, raising concerns regarding retained-device burden and postuse medical waste. Here, we report a biodegradable oral capsule device for long-lasting drug delivery, termed the sustainable gastric self-triggered device (SGSTD), inspired by the stinging mechanism of Apis mellifera. After reaching the stomach, SGSTD autonomously deploys a biodegradable barbed drug-loaded needle into the gastric wall, while the remaining carrier body is subsequently excreted, establishing a bioinspired "deploy-and-separate" strategy for long-acting gastric delivery. The embedded needle enables microchannel-mediated sustained release, with structurally tunable release behavior. Ex vivo and in vivo porcine studies confirmed gastric deployment, tissue retention, systemic safety, and localized tissue repair around the insertion region. In vivo, SGSTD maintained insulin delivery for over 7 days, achieving a relative bioavailability of 63.8%, approximately 17.2-fold higher than conventional oral administration. SGSTD is cost-effective, scalable, and composed of biodegradable materials, providing a sustainable strategy for long-acting oral biologics delivery.

PMID:
42664334
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 29 Aug 2026.

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