‘Exploding’ Capsules Deliver Insulin and Other Injectable Drugs

For millions of people with diabetes and other chronic conditions, daily injections are a painful, inconvenient reality. That’s because many protein-based drugs—like insulin, semaglutide (Ozempic), and monoclonal antibodies—can’t survive the harsh environment of the gastrointestinal tract. But engineers at Georgia Tech have developed a new capsule that could change that: a self-pressurizing pill that uses a tiny chemical “explosion” to deliver injectable drugs directly into the small intestine, no needle required.

The capsule, created by Professor Mark Prausnitz and his team, is powered by a simple reaction between sodium bicarbonate and citric acid. When the capsule reaches the small intestine, the reaction produces carbon dioxide gas, which builds up pressure inside the pill. That pressure then propels the drug payload through the intestinal wall and into the bloodstream—bypassing the digestive enzymes that would normally destroy it. The design is elegantly simple: no batteries, no moving parts, and no external triggers.

In animal studies, the capsule successfully delivered insulin and lowered blood sugar levels just as effectively as traditional injections. The team believes the same platform could be adapted for a wide range of biologics, including GLP-1 agonists like semaglutide and other top-selling injectable drugs. With a global market for protein-based medications exceeding $400 billion, the implications are enormous.

What sets this capsule apart from other oral delivery systems is its mechanical simplicity and targeted delivery. Many previous attempts at oral biologics have relied on complex coatings, microneedles, or electromechanical systems. Georgia Tech’s design uses basic chemistry to achieve a sophisticated result—delivering drugs at the right place, at the right time, with minimal complexity.

Here’s a look at the capsule in action: