Diamyd partners with NIH diabetes group in type 1 vaccine trial

STOCKHOLM, Sweden Diamyd Medical and the National Institute of Diabetes and Kidney Diseases have joined together to initiate a clinical trial with Diamyds’ GAD-alum diabetes vaccine. The clinical trial will involve 126 new onset type 1 diabetes patients. The NIDDK-sponsored consortium type 1 diabetes TrialNet will conduct the clinical study.

The trial will include extensive immunological studies to clarify the mechanism of action and to evaluate the correlation between the clinical and immunological outcomes of GAD-alum Diamyd treatment in recent onset type 1 diabetes patients. The detailed analysis may provide important information into the ability of Diamyd to protect islet cells from autoimmune attack as an instrument for maintaining insulin production. Additionally, the immunological data may prove beneficial for designing future diabetes prevention studies.

“We are extremely excited to be working with NIDDK and TrialNet on this new Diamyd clinical study,” stated Anders Essen-Moller, chief executive officer of Diamyd Medical. “TrialNet is uniquely positioned to conduct clinical studies and to evaluate the molecular and cellular mechanisms of potential diabetes therapies. The insights expected from this trial should prove very valuable for Diamyd, the scientific community and for diabetes patients.”