New study application to vaccinate against juvenile diabetes with Diamyd®
A renowned research group at Lund University has filed an application with the
Swedish Medical Products Agency to carry out a study of the diabetes vaccine
Diamyd® for the prevention of type 1 diabetes in Swedish children. This is the
second prevention study with the diabetes vaccine Diamyd® for which approval has
been sought in a short period.
Several independent research groups plan prevention studies using the diabetes
vaccine Diamyd® with the aim of vaccinating children at risk of developing type
1 diabetes, before disease onset. The company has previously announced that a
Nordic prevention study is being planned. Today's announcement concerns a
Swedish prevention study that is being planned under the leadership of Dr.
Helena Elding Larsson, pediatrician and researcher at Lund University.
“We are on the threshold of an eventful period, in which Diamyd Medical's
diabetes vaccine is evermore sought after for various studies”, says Elisabeth
Lindner, President and CEO of Diamyd. “There is an optimistic aura about Diamyd.
We end this year with two world news within the last ten days; the planned start
of two independent prevention studies. We have also reached all of our goals for
2008”.
Type 1 diabetes, is a very serious life-long disease that normally strikes at an
early age and is increasing rapidly among children. The only treatment that is
currently available for those with the disease is daily insulin injections and a
strict control of blood sugar levels. Patients with type 1 diabetes are often
subject, unfortunately, to serious complications, despite receiving modern
insulin treatment. A treatment that can prevent the disease would be extremely
valuable not only for those at risk of developing the disease, but also for
society.
“Type 1 diabetes is preceded by an often slow destruction of the
insulin-producing cells. It has been shown that Diamyd® can protect the insulin
producing cells from destruction in recent-onset patients. By giving Diamyd®
before the breakdown process has advanced to the stage of disease outbreak, we
now hope that the disease could be prevented or at least delayed”, says
pediatrician Helena Elding Larsson.
The Diamyd® vaccine is already being tested in Europe and the US in the
Company's own Phase III studies of children and adolescents with recent-onset
type 1 diabetes. It has been shown in a study published in the leading medical
journal New England Journal of Medicine earlier this fall that Diamyd® has good
efficacy in recent-onset children and adolescents. The first results from the
ongoing Phase III studies, which should result in a market application for the
Diamyd® diabetes vaccine, are expected to be available in the fall of 2010. At
the same time, Diamyd Medical is developing additional diabetes-related
products, including products for LADA (Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults) and
products for diabetes-related complications.
For more information, please contact:
Elisabeth Lindner, President and CEO Diamyd Medical AB (publ.),
elisabeth.lindner@diamyd.com
Phone: +46-8-661 00 26
For pictures and press material, please contact:
Sonja Catani, Chief Communications Officer Diamyd Medical AB (publ.),
sonja.catani@diamyd.com
Phone: +46-8-661 00 26
Diamyd Medical AB (publ.)
Linnégatan 89 B, SE-115 23 Stockholm, Sweden. Phone: +46 8 661 00 26, Fax: +46 8
661 63 68
E-mail: info@diamyd.com. VATno: SE556530-142001.
Diamyd Medical is a Swedish biopharmaceutical company focusing on development of
pharmaceuticals for treatment of autoimmune diabetes and its complications. The
company's most advanced project is the GAD-based drug Diamyd® for type 1
diabetes and for which Phase III trials are ongoing in both the US and Europe.
Furthermore, the company has initiated clinical studies within chronic pain,
using its Nerve Targeting Drug Delivery System (NTDDS). The company has also
out-licensed the use of GAD for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.
Diamyd Medical has offices in Sweden and in the US. The share is quoted on the
OMX Stockholm Nordic Exchange (ticker: DIAM B) and on OTCQX in the US (ticker:
DMYDY) administered by the Pink Sheets and the Bank of New York (PAL). Further
information is available on the company's web site: www.diamyd.com
This information is disclosed in accordance with the Securities Markets Act, the
Financial Instruments Trading Act or demands made in the exchange rules.
