[Shalyndria]

Transition Therapeutics Inc. is on the verge of vaulting to the forefront of a breakthrough treatment for diabetes that's as close to a cure as anything on the lab bench.

The race is on and INGAP, P&G’s (INT) peptide, has a slight lead in they are already doing human trials. In the next few months, leading insulin maker Novo Nordisk AS of Denmark is expected to conclude a year-long evaluation to license Transition's islet neogenesis therapy (INT), which is designed to stimulate the body to regenerate insulin-producing islet cells in the pancreas, mimicking fetal development.

The accord would pay Toronto-based Transition up to $51.5-million (U.S.) in milestones over the next three or four years for its INT technology, which will be tested on diabetics this summer.

"We're confident the deal will go through," said Tony Cruz, chairman and chief executive officer of Transition. So far, 14-day INT treatments have been able to reverse diabetes in a variety of animals for up to four months, he said, adding that "islet cells regrow and the animal is now able to regulate its own glucose levels."

But success in animal experiments is no guarantee of a similar outcome in humans. "We're at the stage of finding out if INT is sufficiently robust enough to overcome the disease in humans," he said.

So what is INT?

Transition's flagship technology consists of a gastrointestinal hormone called gastrin combined with epidermal growth factor (EGF), which stimulates growth of cells that line internal organs.

But Mr. Cruz admits that Transition's newest INT combination of gastrin plus a glucose-regulating protein called GLP-1 is "getting a lot of attention these days," especially from Novo Nordisk, which is developing its own GLP-1 drug to treat diabetes.

"Our GLP-1-INT probably offers the least clinical risk because it pushes regeneration to the next level," he said. "It has replaced EGF as Novo's main focus."

So far, Transition has spent about $30-million (Canadian) to acquire INT and refine it to the point for an investment from a big drug company such as Novo, which licensed insulin from the Canadian discovery team of Frederick Banting and Charles Best in the 1920s, and has a corporate mission statement that includes finding a cure for diabetes.

Mr. Cruz, a co-founder of Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc., said it's impossible to value INT, which could be on the market before the end of the decade.
DIC:06/23/2004

FYI!
Shy