The developer of an implantable drug delivery system has begun its first clinical trial on humans, 12 years after the company was launched.

MicroCHIPS, an offshoot of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), created a device which holds small drug doses inside reservoirs that can be opened remotely by dissolving a seal of platinum and titanium, Boston.com reports.

The system will now be used to deliver the Eli Lilly drug Forteo to patients suffering from severe osteoporosis.

If the trial is successful, MicroCHIPS hopes the device could be used for as long as a year at a time, meaning patients no longer need to travel to hospitals to receive injections.

Professor Bob Langer of MIT said the device is a "totally new kind of technology" and the team has worked to overcome design difficulties, such as keeping out moisture while it is in the human body.

Recently, a new kind of anti-cancer platinum and phosphate compounds developed at Ohio University was licensed and will be developed by Phosplatin Therapeutics.

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MicroCHIPS, developer of implantable drug delivery system, starts first clinical trial in humans (03/02/11)

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