A vaccine aimed at slowing and preventing type 1 diabetes for those newly-diagnosed is moving forward on late-stage clinical studies, with hopes of using precision medicine to help preserve the insulin-making beta cells in the body and prolong the full T1D onset as long as possible.
This potential vaccine is being developed by Swedish biotech startup Diamyd Medical, which has been working on this particular treatment for several years. Despite delays and disappointing results earlier on the past decade, the latest studies have promising results and new clinical trials have kicked off in Europe and the United States in 2021.
“We have put great effort into designing this latest trial together with our collaboration partners, digging deep into the data to make sure we do not cut any corners,” Diamyd CEO Ulf Hannelius told DiabetesMine. “Without all the data and the knowledge how to use it, we wouldn’t be where we are today.”
DiabetesMine talked to Diamyd’s CEO about this company’s research and what it means for people with diabetes (PWDs), and what we can expect to see as we move forward. That Q&A is below, but first let’s delve into some of the science-heavy specifics on what Diamyd’s leading vaccine candidate is all about and how it would work.
At a high level, the Diamyd vaccine aims to stop the destruction of insulin-producing beta cells that lead to T1D. The how is more nuanced and science-heavy.
In the clinical trials, the Diamyd vaccine was injected…
