Andromeda Biotech, an Israeli drug developer that is partnered with and partly owned by Teva ($TEVA), is reporting that its experimental Type 1 diabetes treatment proved positive in a pivotal late-stage study. Investigators say that after a year of treatment, patients taking Diapep277--a peptide created at the Weizmann Institute of Science--with insulin demonstrated improved insulin secretion and a more balanced blood sugar level than patients taking insulin alone.
Andromeda, which is controlled by Clal Biotechnology Industries, earned a $170 million investment last summer from Teva in exchange for the worldwide marketing rights to the drug.
"We are very pleased with these top-line results, which indicate an important breakthrough for medical science in the area of immune therapy for patients with Type 1 diabetes," says professor Itamar Raz, who heads the diabetes unit at Hadassah University Hospital in Jerusalem. "Preservation of the endogenous insulin secretion, which was corroborated by the clinical outcome of improved control of Hb1Ac, may fulfill the current vast unmet medical need in this field."
Investigators for Andromeda recruited 457 patients in Europe, Israel and South Africa for the study. A second Phase III with 450 patients is under way.
- get the press release
- here's the report from Globes
Related Articles:
Diabetes researcher says he may be 'close to a cure'
Scientists piecing together genetic puzzle in type 1 diabetes