Last week I wrote a blog post for the JDCA featuring our last report, Trials Targeting a Cure, which reveals that only five out of 300 trials currently taking place are focused on a Practical Cure (meaning it actually has a defined objective of what a cure would look like, and hopes to achieve one within our lifetime, or by 2025.)
As a reminder - the other 295 trials are still using money donated by diabetics and their loves ones for a cure, but are not using the money as the donors intended.
The above is very bad news, and we must do everything that we can to change it - however, we can also focus and hope that the five trials that are in the clinical stage will bring about a cure.
From the blog:
DIABECELL3
Monolayer Cellular Device (“MCD”)4
ATG/GCSF5
Diamyd/Sitagliptin/Lansoprazole (“D/S/L”)6
Sitagliptin/Lansoprazole (“S/L”)7
- In the first two, DIABECELL and MCD, insulin-producing islets are enclosed within a protective sheath or device and then implanted into an individual’s abdomen.This involves a minor surgical procedure. The islets’ protective covering shields them from an autoimmune attack, yet allows the secretion of insulin to regulate an individual’s blood sugar levels.
- The other three, ATG/GCSF, D/S/L and S/L, utilize a combination of drugs that are designed to stop the autoimmune attack and to stimulate growth of beta cells.
Which trial is in the most advanced stage? Currently, DIABECELL is in Phase 2 and has already been approved in Russia.
Make sure to read the report and the blogs for more information - and feel free to share anything you have heard about these trials too.
We are far from promising any of these will certainly lead to a much-awaited cure, but hopefully we are taking steps closer towards one.