A groundbreaking clinical trial for a type 1 diabetes drug is currently underway, offering new hope to those battling the chronic condition. Developed by researchers at the University of Queensland, the treatment could significantly reduce the need for insulin injections and potentially halt the progression of the disease.
The new drug, known as ASITI-201, has already shown promising results in animal trials and is now being tested on humans for the first time. Among the early participants is Brisbane mother Cecelia Wickstroem Giraldi, who developed gestational diabetes during pregnancy and has since struggled with fluctuating blood sugar levels, eventually leading to a type 1 diabetes diagnosis.
“For me, managing diabetes has been an ongoing challenge,” Giraldi shared, describing the difficulty of living with a disease that forces regular insulin administration. She is now one of five individuals taking part in the first phase of the human trials, which aim to test the drug’s effectiveness in reprogramming the immune system to stop attacking the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.
Professor Ranjeny Thomas, a key researcher behind the development of the drug, explained that the current standard of care for type 1 diabetes—insulin therapy—merely replaces what the body can no longer produce. “This new drug, however, targets the root cause of the disease,” she said.
ASITI-201 works by utilizing proteins and cells from the pancreas along with vitamin D to modulate the immune response. The goal is to reduce, or possibly eliminate, the need for frequent insulin injections by halting the immune system’s attack on insulin-producing pancreatic cells.
The drug has shown success in mice, and researchers are now expanding the trial to include an additional 31 participants. To qualify, individuals must be over 18 and have been diagnosed with type 1 diabetes within the past five years.
As the trial progresses, experts remain hopeful that this innovative approach could change the future of diabetes treatment, offering those affected by the disease a more effective and less burdensome alternative.
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