ABSTRACT
The discovery of insulin is one of the milestones in the history of medicine. Since the discovery in 1921, production of insulin, its formulations, and insulin delivery systems have changed from time-to-time and became more innovative. Insulin formulations fall under different categories like regular insulin, isophane insulin, lente insulin, etc. They vary in the rate of release of insulin depending on their type. Despite the controversies, insulin analogs are also getting popularity, and are being used effectively in treatment of diabetes. Stability and storage are the important issues with insulin that need to be addressed while designing the formulations as well as the delivery systems. Researchers are trying to resolve these problems and finding better ways to stabilize and administer the insulin. Use of routes other than subcutaneous for insulin administration is getting more attention of researchers. Insulin is to be administered by the non-medicinal professionals and mostly the patients itself, so the insulin delivery system needs to be patient-friendly. Insulin injections are being widely used for the administration of the insulin because of their cost-effectiveness. Insulin pens are also available, which makes the administration of insulin easy and accurate. But the repeated administration of insulin by injections or by pens makes it painful and uncomfortable for the patients. Researchers 294 are trying various approaches and have come up with different solutions. Oral insulin is one of the approach, which is being talked since long time in the scientific community. Research laboratories are also working on automatic delivery of the insulin by Sensor-augmented pumps. In this chapter, insulin therapy has been discussed with respect to current trends and future of insulin formulations and delivery methods.
