Patent ID: 6846801

Claim:
A method of treating a patient in need of insulin treatment, comprising introducing through the mouth and into the lower respiratory tract of said patient an effective amount of a dry powder composition, the active ingredients of which consist of (a) insulin and (b) one or more enhancers which enhance the absorption of insulin in the lower respiratory tract of said patient, each of the one or more enhancers being selected from the group consisting of a bile salt, a C 8 -C 16 fatty acid, a salt of a C 8 -C 16 fatty acid, an acyl carnitine, a salt of glycyrrhizine, a phospholipid, a cyclodextrin, and an alkyl saccharide, wherein the dry powder composition is introduced into the lower respiratory tract of the patient by inhalation from a dry powder inhaler device, provided that, if any of the one or more enhancers is a double-chain phospholipid, each chain of the double-chain phospholipid is eight or fewer carbon atoms in length.