Possible Hope for Type 1’s

Patients with type 1 diabetes have been offered new hope as scientists test a drug that could save them from a lifetime of injections.…

It has been developed to block the process which causes the body’s immune system to attack the pancreas. It is hoped that in patients newly diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, the treatment will prevent the disease developing because it will stop the destruction of vital cells of the pancreas which make insulin. The developers aim to be able to provide it to patients within three years.

Scientists say the drug will help patients continue to produce some of their own insulin and they believe it could eventually allow the pancreas to recover and make enough to support the body completely. It will also reduce the risk of side effects linked with synthetic insulin which can mirror diabetes complications such as heart disease, stroke and kidney disease that might require a transplant.

Trials are taking place at 140 centers in the UK, including at London’s King’s College Hospital, as well as Europe, North America, South Africa and Israel.

Dr. Shlomo Dagan, of Andromeda Biotech in Israel, said: “We have proved in earlier trials that our compound stops the immune system attacking the pancreas. “There is evidence to suggest that using the drug over a period of time, maybe a couple of years, will allow the pancreas to recover enough to make more insulin.” “In that situation the patient could stop injecting insulin.”

Dr. Eleanor Kennedy, spokeswoman for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, welcomed the news. She said: “The research on this shows it may well be possible that patients could cope without the need for any insulin injections.

The new drug is made from a protein called a long-chain heat-shock peptide – was invented at the Weizmann Institute in Israel by Professor Irun Cohen.

Press release Andromeda Biotech, Aug. 2011