Implantable devices being developed by a Bedford, MA, company called MicroChips may one day replace the tedious ritual of regular drug injections. Instead, doctors could program a chip under the skin, allowing drug doses to be released on schedule from any of 100 microscale drug reservoirs.

The company took its first step toward proving such a device is possible in March, when results of the first animal test of an implantable drug-delivery system were published. MicroChips scientists showed that such devices stably released a biological drug in dogs for up to six months -- an unprecedented feat.