Cure?? In 2-3 years???

[kstreeter513]

I have posted some information on an Australian based company called Living Cell Technologies (LCT) a few times in the past. They are in the process of producing encapsulated islet cells. These cells would be placed in the liver and the capsule would not allow antibodies in to destroy the cell (being very basic here) thus negating the need for immunosuppresive drugs. The cells would produce insulin in response to increases in blood sugar just like a normal pancreas.
Periodically, I receive emails from the company about updates, news, and how things are going. A few days ago, I received the most promising news I've ever heard. In an interview with "The Wall Street Transcript," Dr. Tan, one of the developers of the new treatment, said, widespread clinical trials are just two to three years away!!
The early, phase I/IIa clinical trails, have already started in Russia, and the results are more promising than they had expected.
The email I received is in an odd format, and for some reason I cannot copy and paste it here (I'm not too computer savvy:o ), but if any of you would like me to forward the email to you, PM me and I would be more than happy to share this info with you!!!!:D

[matingara]

That email is a set of 6 jpg pictures! what a lousy way to send out info...

and they are all to big to upload here.

looks like the best way ts to either email those interested or find a URL for this.

:)

-- Joel.

[ant hill]

In an interview with "The Wall Street Transcript," Dr. Tan, one of the developers of the new treatment, said, widespread clinical trials are just two to three years away!!

I would believe it when I see it. But then these good people who do this research and have the success will be fobbed of because of lack of funds. :(

[Kat]

Crossing my fingers, Hope HOpe HOPE! But....we shall see

[viranth]

This will happen:

- They get blocked by big pharma companies and recieve no funds.

- They get bought up by a big pharma company.

- They find out it's too expensive to give everyone, thus dropping the project.

- It doesn't get approved by any countries.


I hope it works, but I doubt we'll see anything useful for a bunch of years.

[ant hill]

:mad: Another words, They hate compertition, They rather keep us as a cash cow. :mad: :mad: :eek: :confused:

[kstreeter513]

I would believe it when I see it. But then these good people who do this research and have the success will be fobbed of because of lack of funds. :(

The company is actually well funded by private marketers. This came directly from their site. LCT website (http://www.lctglobal.com/index.php).

"Investor Relations in a biotechnology company:
Living Cell Technologies is a fast growing public bioscience company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange with over 1200 shareholders from Australasia, Europe and the United States of America. The
company is very product driven building an international entity that
will have its own capabilities of providing live cell therapies in Asia Pacific, USA and Europe. "

[DeusXM]

2-3 years is a bit ambitious but I'll be very surprised if we haven't seen a major breakthrough within the next 20. In fact I'd put money on something pretty promising and workable coming up in the next 7 years or so.

[Olidus]

Interesting stuff -
www. lctglobal.com/information/treating diabetes - diabecell may07.pdf

Is the PDF on the info.

[kstreeter513]

I also forgot to mention, you can read the excerpt from The Wall Street Transcript" directly from the website. Peter, and Viranth, I highly encourage you to at least look at the website before becoming too pessimistic. I know how things like this usually seem to pan out but this seems to be different. I am at least hearing regular updates from these people, and, now there are things being projected for the future. And I don't mean 10 years from now either. They're saying two to three!!! I probably shouldn't get my hopes up either, but what if this is it? Its possible. And in the transcript, I forgot to mention, they said trials will begin in the US by next year!!!


If you go to the website look on the left side of the screen for "Transcript of LCT interview with The Wall Street". All the info you need is right there.

[DeusXM]

Clinical trials are in two to three years. Usually takes between 5 and 7 years for something to be available on the market once it passes the trials, so don't get too excited just yet. But stay optimistic.

[kstreeter513]

Clinical trials are in two to three years. Usually takes between 5 and 7 years for something to be available on the market once it passes the trials, so don't get too excited just yet. But stay optimistic.

Please read my previous posts or at least look at the website before throwing negativity at this!!:mad:

As I said earlier it is already in Phases I/IIa clinical trials. The next phase (when it will be available in much larger numbers) will be in two to three years. From Clinical Trials (http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/info/understand):

"What are the phases of clinical trials?

Clinical trials are conducted in phases. The trials at each phase have a different purpose and help scientists answer different questions:

In Phase I trials, researchers test an experimental drug or treatment in a small group of people (20-80) for the first time to evaluate its safety, determine a safe dosage range, and identify side effects.

In Phase II trials, the experimental study drug or treatment is given to a larger group of people (100-300) to see if it is effective and to further evaluate its safety.

In Phase III trials, the experimental study drug or treatment is given to large groups of people (1,000-3,000) to confirm its effectiveness, monitor side effects, compare it to commonly used treatments, and collect information that will allow the experimental drug or treatment to be used safely.

In Phase IV trials, post marketing studies delineate additional information including the drug's risks, benefits, and optimal use."

The further you get down the line, the faster the trials move. They are in the slowest point now, but things are expected to be moving along quite nicely so that in two or three years, it will be available in wide spread use.

If you want to be negative, that is your choice, but please read/know the facts before shooting down the only hope we have going for us right now.:)

[viranth]

Well, I too think it would be odd if there is no cure or something that can help A LOT within the next 10 years.

But by staying pessimistic I manage to deal with having just gotten diabetes, and learning to control it the best way possible as it stands now.

I will pay whatever it takes when the day comes, I lived 27.5 years without diabetes, and wouldn't mind getting rid of it soon™.

[DeusXM]

If you want to be negative, that is your choice, but please read/know the facts before shooting down the only hope we have going for us right now.

Excuse me? Negative?

I think you'll find that I'm actually one of the most positive on the boards here about a cure being found - mostly because I'm one of those people that don't buy into the whole 'big pharm' argument.

The fact is that the trials are only in the first stages and there are at least two further trials to take place first before it's on the mass market. And that's if this treatment actually passes all those trials. The fact is that it takes around five years from a drug passing trials to get onto the mass market. By way of a random example, the first clinical trials of Viagra took place in 1991 and it wasn't approved for treatment until 1998.

Also if you're going to suggest that I need to 'know the facts before shooting down the only hope', you might want to do your own fact-checking as well. Because if you did, you'd also know that the lisofylline/exendin-4 trials are showing great promise. You'd also be aware about the potential that stem cells have in regenerating islet cells.

Personally my money's on the lisofylline/exendin-4 treatment because it's non-invasive and it's two tablets to take every day, which means pharmaceutical companies are more likely to fund the research, taking the pressure off state-run systems. This route has also already been proved as a cure in rats, and the drugs are already approved for independent use in humans.

I'm not a pessimist - I know exactly what's going on with the cure process and I hope that this LCT treatment works. But if the larger trials are still 2-3 years away, then there's still some time before this gets full mass-market approval. As I said, within the next 10 years.

[Biozone]

Don't forget that the LCT treatement is more of a surgical procedure rather than a drug trial. Therefore the trial process is likely to be very different. This is not new, they have been plugging away for over 20 years now and the first patient was implanted over ten years ago. They explanted some of his capsules last year that tested positive for insulin and glucogen. Stem cell treatments are still to prove that they can work. Don't forget that the original problem is that the body's imune system destroys the beta cells. If you put more stem cell created beta cells the immune situation is still there and likely to kill the new beta cells unless toxic immunosurpressants are used.

The LCT process has been shown to be safe and to work. I don't understand why all Type 1 diabetics are not getting behind this company and supporting it to the max.

Listen to the interview on and read the press release from the 12 month follow up that was out today.

[DeusXM]

I don't understand why all Type 1 diabetics are not getting behind this company and supporting it to the max.

Of course we're all behind the work that's going on. Simply pointing out this won't result in a magic cure in less than 3 years is not a criticism of the company at all - it's simply presenting a more realistic interpretation of what's going on.

If they don't have a fully working cure in 3 years, you're going to devastated and jaded and annoyed with the company. Don't spend your time clockwatching - a cure's coming and it'll be here in the next decade or so. So keep looking after yourself until then.

[kstreeter513]

As I said earlier it is already in Phases I/IIa clinical trials. The next phases (when it will be available in much larger numbers) will be in two to three years. From Clinical Trials (http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/info/understand):

"In Phase IV trials, post marketing studies delineate additional information including the drug's risks, benefits, and optimal use."

The fact is that the trials are only in the first stages and there are at least two further trials to take place first before it's on the mass market.

The final phase of the trials are the POST MARKETING studies. Which means the treatment will already be on the market. LCT is expecting it to take two to three years for the treatment to make it past the phase III clinical trials. Once the phase III clinical trials are over it moves to the post marketing studies.

Also if you're going to suggest that I need to 'know the facts before shooting down the only hope', you might want to do your own fact-checking as well. Because if you did, you'd also know that the lisofylline/exendin-4 trials are showing great promise. You'd also be aware about the potential that stem cells have in regenerating islet cells.

The lisofylline/exendin-4 is not a "cure" by my standards, that is what I would call a treatment. A pill that has to be taken twice a day sounds more like another treatment to me. Would a type 2 say they are "cured" because they take their metformin everyday? And the stem cell idea is way to far from being a realistic idea right now that I don't even consider it an option, and you would still have to take immunosuppresive drugs to keep from destroying the new beta cells.

[DeusXM]

LCT is expecting it to take two to three years for the treatment to make it past the phase III clinical trials. Once the phase III clinical trials are over it moves to the post marketing studies.

Hang on, now you're being inconsistant. You said:

As I said earlier it is already in Phases I/IIa clinical trials. The next phase (when it will be available in much larger numbers) will be in two to three years.

Now you're contradicting yourself. Is it currently in phase 2 or phase 3? If it's in phase 2, then by your own admission it's another 2-3 years before it's in the next phase of trial (so at least 5 years before something workable comes up), and if it's in phase 3, then those trials need to run successfully first. And then AFTER all that, the treatment will still need approval by the various drug authorities. So I still stick by my assessment of 10 years. I'm more than happy to be proved wrong on this but I think you're getting so excited about the potential of this cure that you're not being realistic about it.

The 'post-marketing' trials are also very important. Would you get a cure that hasn't been proven to be fully safe? I would not. I would not be happy with having a major surgical procedure that has not been demonstrated to be largely free of side effects. Otherwise we end up with exactly the same problem created by Avandia.

The lisofylline/exendin-4 is not a "cure" by my standards, that is what I would call a treatment. A pill that has to be taken twice a day sounds more like another treatment to me. Would a type 2 say they are "cured" because they take their metformin everyday?

I'm looking for something that means I can eat what I like, when I like, without worrying about what my blood sugar is doing, not having to test my BG all the time. Metaformin doesn't let you do that. Lisofylline-exendin-4 will. They've also demonstrated in test subjects that you can actually go for at least 145 days without taking any medication of any sort at all anyway.

[BlueSky]

The problem Living Cells Technologies has is that their procedure involves xenotransplantation . This is highly charged issue. The people who have the most to say about it don't really understand the issue. This is causing a lot of confusion. And getting the necessary approval and support for it is proving extremely difficult. They did the initial trial on it 10 years ago here in Auckland. But the whole project was shelved because of the xenotransplantation issue. It has since then been debated extensively. The Russian trials are encouraging, but LCT is still waiting for ministerial approval to start phase 2 trials (I think) at Middlemore Hospital here in Auckland. I wrote a letter to David Cunliffe, the minister of health in April about this and he replied with a description of the process they are going through. Another round of public consultations has just been held. We are in an election year, so I don't expect to see much more action. LCT are threatening to move the trials to the US if they don't get more co-operation here, but I suspect they would run into even more red tape.

Anyway, this would be more of a treatment than a cure. The encapsulated beta cells would restore some endogenous insulin production, but you would have to continue injecting supplemental insulin. The procedure would probably have to be repeated from time to time too. Fortunately, it is a very simple procedure and could be done in an outpatient clinic.

[BriOnH]

2-3 years?? What happened to 5 years?? It's always been "a cure will be developed in 5 years" since 1976!!!! Something weird is going on here.......

[Stuboy]

aren't most of these "cures" actually only "work-arounds"?

Surely the only CURE would be to actually stop the immune system destroying the beta cells...

Either way, anything that will remove the need to inject insulin and worry about how everything will affect our blood sugar is a good thing.

[Scratch]

As Bluesky pointed out, this isn't really quite a cure so much as much more sophisticated treatment.

An actual cure would need two things -- cessation of the autoimmune attack and restoration of functional beta cells in sufficient numbers to provide native insulin response.

This idea certainly has some promise.

For more of an actual cure, I'd have to say that Dr. Faustman's work is probably the most hopeful line of inquiry that is currently in testing.

[KCP]

Yepl, bluesky is correct. Proff Elliott was major fore runners a of the trials here in Nz. And yup, the xenotransplant issue was the reason it got shelved.
I doubt this issue in nz will be resolved anytime soon, which is sad for Nz..