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Diabetics may soon be able to take a pill to control the disease instead of daily injections after research by Jersey-based company Diabetology.

Dr Steve Luzio, part of a team from Cardiff University that has carried out trials, will present the results at the American Diabetes Association in Chicago today.

They are expected to show that an oral dose of an insulin pill, taken twice daily before breakfast and the evening meal, controlled glucose levels successfully in the patients treated.

Oral insulin has long been the Holy Grail for diabetics researchers as a replacement for daily injections, particularly for young diabetic children who often have problems with needles.

However, until now one of the main obstacles to this has been that insulin is a protein which can be digested just like other proteins in the food.

The stomach is a very acidic environment and proteins are quickly 'denatured', which would make the insulin ineffective.

The presence of food also influence absorption and make a dose less predictable. This is why oral insulin has never been successful

Diabetology, a small research and development company, has spent many years trying to get around the problem.

It claims to have achieved success by enclosing the insulin in a capsule that resists stomach acids and passes intact into the small intestine, according to the Times.

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