Type-1 Diabetes Vaccine Approved for Human Trials

[IDemo]

Source: Latin Post

A new promising vaccine designed to reverse Type-1 diabetes has now been approved for a phase II clinical trial by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The vaccine, known as Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) has already been found in earlier trials to be effective in reversing advanced Type-1 diabetes in mice, and has since completed another successful phase of human clinical trials.

The next phase of trials is expected to last for five years and will investigate whether repeat BCG vaccinations can clinically improve Type-1 diabetes in adults between the ages of 18 and 60 years, who have small but still detectable levels of insulin secretion from the pancreas.

"In the phase I clinical trial we demonstrated a statistically significant response to BCG, but our goal in phase II is to create a lasting therapeutic response," said principal investigator of the study Denise Faustman, director of the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) immunobiology laboratory.

"We will be working again with people who have had type-1 diabetes for many years. This is not a prevention trial; instead, we are trying to create a regimen that will treat even advanced disease."

Read more: http://www.latinpost.com/articles/58383/20150608/type-1-diabetes-vaccine-approved-for-human-trials.htm

[TexasTowelie]

1. K&R.

Not having to give myself injections 3 or 4 times a day and spend money on test supplies, syringes and insulin would be wonderful. The last price that I had for a vial of Lantus insulin was $264.

[IDemo]

2. Same here, 4 injections daily

Sanofi, the French maker of Lantus, is gouging people who need this stuff to stay alive, not to treat itchy watery eyes.

Entering my 51st year of Type 1, and my 40th year of hearing that a cure will probably be just 10 years away.

[TexasTowelie]

3. It would be nice if the government

initiated an ant-trust lawsuit against them and the other insulin makers because their price increases just within the past three years have been astronomical.

[IDemo]

4. 4 Pharma CEOs Admit They Jack Up Drug Prices for the Hell of It

Four healthcare CEOs did something extraordinary at the Reuters Health Summit last week: They admitted that drug companies put up prices just for the hell of it. It was a rare moment of group candor from Big Pharma and its allies, who usually argue that prices are set by the market or that companies need high prices to pay for innovative R&D.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/4-pharma-ceos-admit-they-jack-up-drug-prices-for-the-hell-of-it/

[gvstn]

8. Preach it!

...and my 40th year of hearing that a cure will probably be just 10 years away.

[EvolveOrConvolve]

6. Have you tried the Lantus Savings Card?

https://www.lantus.com/sign-up/copay-registration?WT.mc_id=LANCO20607WB

When I was first diagnosed in January 2014, the CDE I visited sent me that link, and I only pay $25 per box (I go through about 1.5 boxes a month). Once I'd run through the card, I simply printed another one out and I'm using it now. Of course, I had to give them some personal information and now they spam my email account a couple of times a month, but I'm cool with that if I can save $150+ per month.

[TexasTowelie]

7. Yes, I have.

For awhile I was on the free Lantus program and now I'm in an indigent care program. I believe that you can only be in that program for a year. I'm running through a vial of insulin every 17 or 18 days, so in order not to exhaust my 3 prescription per month I have to call the indigent program director several days in advance to approve ordering two vials instead of one. I ran into a problem last month when I tried to order again not realizing that I hit my limit for the month and was facing the $264 charge.

[mountain grammy]

5. Hopeful news.

[Nitram]

9. Sounds more like a treatment than a vaccine.

Very good news. My mother died from the complications of diabetes.

[IDemo]

10. Vaccines can serve both as preventions and treatments

Sipuleucel-T (Provenge®) is a cancer vaccine. Unlike traditional vaccines, which boost the body’s immune system to help prevent infections, this vaccine boosts the immune system to get it to attack prostate cancer cells in the body.

http://www.cancer.org/cancer/prostatecancer/detailedguide/prostate-cancer-treating-vaccine-treatment

BCG is being used here in a similar fashion, attacking abnormal white blood cells responsible for autoimmune Type-1 diabetes.

[magical thyme]

11. apparently the beta cells in the islet of langerhans are able to regenerate

when the attacks are stopped. This is very exciting. 4 different labs have been able to replicate the results to date.

I didn't understand how they could reverse the damage...

"Researchers from three laboratories funded by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation confirmed that Dr. Faustman's protocol can successfully reverse type 1 diabetes in end-stage mice;[7][8][9] however, they did not find that the splenic cells played a role and suggested that the source of islet cell regeneration was proliferation of existing pancreatic islet cells.

A research group led by a researcher from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) has also replicated Faustman's work in mice with type 1 diabetes.[10] This group found that adult stem cells from the spleen did play a role in regeneration and also that Faustman's protocol could be used to reverse a second autoimmune disease, called Sjögren's syndrome, in mice."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denise_Faustman