Salcaprozate sodium (SNAC), an oral absorption promoter that was discovered as part of a screen to identify carrier-based permeation enhancers (Pes) that could “chaperone” poorly permeable payloads across the intestine. Its potential therapeutic application as a delivery agent was tested in many formats: taste-masked liquids, tablets, and soft gelatin capsules. SNAC is the most extensively tested carrier and the only PE approved in an oral formulation designed to improve oral bioavailabilities. The mechanism of action of this compound is not clear. However, Novo Nordisk offered a mechanism of action for SNAC in its non-enteric coated tablet of the glucagon-like peptide 1 analog, semaglutide. SNAC formed a complex around the semaglutide in the stomach and caused a transient increase in local pH around the molecule. It is claimed that semaglutide is protected against pepsin by SNAC and that solubility was increased, resulting in an increased concentration-dependent flux of semaglutide across the gastric mucosa, using a transcellular mechanism as the tablet comes in intimate contact with the epithelium. Clinical trials for patients with Type 2 Diabetes have shown that the oral semaglutide co-formulated with 300 mg SNAC could be used for further clinical development.

Salcaprozate sodium (SNAC), an oral absorption promoter that was discovered as part of a screen to identify carrier-based permeation enhancers (Pes) that could “chaperone” poorly permeable payloads across the intestine. Its potential therapeutic application as a delivery agent was tested in many formats: taste-masked liquids, tablets, and soft gelatin capsules. SNAC is the most extensively tested carrier and the only PE approved in an oral formulation designed to improve oral bioavailabilities. The mechanism of action of this compound is not clear. However, Novo Nordisk offered a mechanism of action for SNAC in its non-enteric coated tablet of the glucagon-like peptide 1 analog, semaglutide. SNAC formed a complex around the semaglutide in the stomach and caused a transient increase in local pH around the molecule. It is claimed that semaglutide is protected against pepsin by SNAC and that solubility was increased, resulting in an increased concentration-dependent flux of semaglutide across the gastric mucosa, using a transcellular mechanism as the tablet comes in intimate contact with the epithelium. Clinical trials for patients with Type 2 Diabetes have shown that the oral semaglutide co-formulated with 300 mg SNAC could be used for further clinical development.