`Insulin Pills to Be Produced`

It is prospected that insulin pills for diabetics are to be developed and to be sold within 10 years.

Nicholas Peppas, a professor of chemical and biomedical engineering at Purdue, said at the American Chemical Society`s national meeting in Chicago that ``we have developed insulin pills with a special coating, which can survive the harsh digestive acids in the stomach, and seep into the bloodstream through the small intestine. In tests on animals, up to 16 percent of the insulin made it to the bloodstream.``

There are 3 million diabetics in the nation, and 10 percent of them are reported to get insulin shots to control blood sugar levels.

taylor55@donga.com