The Artificial Pancreas has the potential to become a huge leap forward in diabetes care. As anxious as all of us are to push the boundaries in diabetes technology, we can’t forget the importance of clinical trials; nothing will move forward without real patients ready and willing to strap on the gear and let researchers observe them for hours on end, most of the time in a clinical setting.
That might not seem like the…
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More islet cell research to share with you today:
We’ve been covering quite a few companies working hard at finding ways to protect islets from immune system attack. First we profiled Cerco Medical, which is also the subject of a documentary film, and a couple of weeks ago we checked in with ViaCyte, of San Diego. Both of those companies are working with stem cells, but today’s company, Canada’s Sernova, is kicking it old school…
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By
AmyT on
January 17, 2012
In the area of beta cell preservation, there’s a (sort of) new name in the spotlight: Andromeda Biotech, Ltd. with its DiaPep277 treatment. Based in Israel, this company announced last month that phase III clinical trials showed significant preservation of C-peptide levels, a marker for assessing insulin secretion by pancreatic cells. Andromeda joins the ranks of companies like Tolerx and Macrogenics/Lilly, who’ve been vocal about their work to preserve beta cell functioning in newly diagnosed patients…
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We were familiar with the company ViaCyte through its former identity as NovoCell, when we reported that they’d managed to successfully control diabetes in mice using embryonic stem cells back in 2008.
Last year, they changed their name, but their two-part mission remained the same: first, to create fully functioning beta cells (the specific kind of islet cells that make insulin and amylin) from embryonic stem cells, and then to find a way to combat…
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