# DEVELOPMENT OF CONCENTRATED, STABLE ULTRA FAST-ACTING INSULIN FORMULATION

> **NIH NIH R01** · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $545,343

## Abstract

For people with diabetes, maintaining optimal blood glucose levels is effective in delaying or even
preventing long-term complications. Tremendous efforts have been made in developing fast-acting and
long-lasting analogues to provide better glycemic control compared to native insulin. Unfortunately, most
people are unable to consistently meet their target glycemic range, and aggressive efforts to reach this
goal can cause frequent and potentially life-threatening episodes of hypoglycemia. A key challenge lies
in the slow onset and long duration of the currently available fast-acting insulin therapeutics, which
restricts the effectiveness of insulin therapy. Efforts to develop new fast-acting insulins have been limited
by the involvement of the same residues in both insulin dimerization and receptor binding, which
presents the conundrum that mutations that increase speed of availability also negate signaling.
Consequently, no new fast-acting insulins have been approved in the past decade. To overcome this
fundamental blockage, we are taking an approach that is inspired by recent insights from the study of
fish-hunting cone snails that use a specialized venom insulin variant to rapidly induce hypoglycemic
shock in their prey. Our preliminary data show that this venomous insulin is monomeric, binds to human
insulin receptor, activates the insulin-signaling pathway, and reduces blood sugar levels in mice. These
data provide a strong foundation to learn further insights from the fascinating arsenal of venomous
insulins. Successful outcome will provide a platform upon which a powerful new class of therapeutics can
be developed for the treatment of diabetes.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10188522
- **Project number:** 5R01DK120430-04
- **Recipient organization:** STANFORD UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Danny Hung-Chieh Chou
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $545,343
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-15 → 2023-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10188522

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10188522, DEVELOPMENT OF CONCENTRATED, STABLE ULTRA FAST-ACTING INSULIN FORMULATION (5R01DK120430-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10188522. Licensed CC0.

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