Pennsylvania teen part of trial as FDA approves needle-free insulin for kids with diabetes: "It's pretty cool"

The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved Afrezza, an inhaled needle-free insulin, for children with diabetes. It is the first needle-free insulin option for children.

Fifteen-year-old Greg Stanoch from Chadds Ford participated in the clinical trial. He tested Afrezza for four years ahead of the FDA's approval.

"It's pretty cool, honestly," Stanoch said, "it's very easy."

Stanoch was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes when he was in the first grade. He relied on multiple insulin injections daily to control his blood sugar.

"It's really hard for me to say this, but I couldn't really be a kid," Stanoch said. "It was a lot of anxiety, a lot of stress."

He said it was difficult managing injections with all the sports he loves, including playing Frisbee.

"As a parent, it just breaks your heart," Greg's father, David, said. "Every time your little child wants to eat a potato chip, you have to watch him jab himself."

David Stanoch said he was a little concerned initially about enrolling his son in a clinical trial, but he said his family had some comfort knowing the drug had been approved for adults for more than a decade.

"It was definitely easier," Greg Stanoch said about the drug, which is inhaled before meals. "I can manage it a lot better than taking shots."

"Inhaled insulin is a different way to deliver regular human insulin," Dr. Jamie Wood, a pediatric endocrinologist and the lead investigator on the clinical trial, said. "The insulin is in a powder that can be inhaled and absorbed through the lungs."

Wood added that the drug works as well as injected insulin. Doctors said side effects for Afrezza are rare but can include lung problems, which is why doctors suggest people with breathing issues should not use the drug.

Stanoch said the drug is a game-changer for him, and that he is happy it will now be available for other children.

"I think that is amazing," Stanoch said, "it truly is."