[kstreeter513]

I frequently get information via email, from LCT. They have developed a way to encapsulate porcine islet cells and inject them into type 1's, for a way to cure type 1 diabetes wothout the need for immunosuppresent drugs. It is in phase I/IIa HUMAN clinical trials, and I recieved the following update from them today:

"May 8, 2008 - Melbourne, Australia and Auckland, New Zealand - Living Cell Technologies Limited (ASX: LCT; OTC:LVCLY.PK) today announced that Australian television Channel Ten News will feature the Company's world first islet cell treatment being developed for insulin dependent diabetes on its news segment between 5.00 pm - 6.00 pm this evening.


The news segment will include Professor Bob Elliott, LCT's Medical Director, recounting LCT�s therapeutic approach of using encapsulated porcine insulin producing cells, DiabeCell�, and an interview with Michael Helyer, the world�s first patient to be implanted with a prototype of DiabeCell�. Ten years following his treatment, porcine insulin was detected in Mr Helyer's blood after an oral glucose dose, indicating that the cells were still alive and functioning.



LCT has further developed DiabeCell� as a new way of delivering insulin for people not able to produce insulin themselves. The news program will highlight the remarkable observation that with the new DiabeCell�, a patient suffering from type 1 diabetes for 15 years and enrolled in a continuing Phase I/IIa clinical trial of DiabeCell�, has been able to stop insulin injections for 5 months after a first dose, which was given without any immunosuppressive drugs � something not previously possible. Promising interim results from this ongoing Phase I/IIa clinical trial were announced by the Company on March 31, 2008 at the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) Congress in Wellington, New Zealand, and the NZBio Conference in Auckland, New Zealand.


A web link to the program will be accessible on the Living Cell Technology website from tomorrow afternoon (www.lctglobal.com)"

I was wondering if anyone in Australia saw this. Very exciting news. I will post more info as I receive it. Just wanted to share this.

[BlueSky]

It certainly looks promising. The initial trials in Auckland and the recent trials in Russia have been encouraging. I think the biggest hurdle now is bureaucratic red tape. Bob Elliot is waiting for final approval to start the next phase of trials with six patients here in Auckland. This is a form of xenotransplantation and the retro virus risk is a big issue. There has been a lot of debate on it and it seemed like everything had been sorted out, but the minister of health is dragging his heals on giving his approval. It is an election year here and it looks like there will be a change of government, so I don't expect anything to happen soon. LCT might try and shift the trials to the US, but I suspect there will be complications there too.

[Gordonm]

If it works it will take the FDA 10 years to even think about approving it.

[Nick3501]

If it works the FDA will find a reason NOT to approve it...too much lost money. Ill just move to Australia In north America we like to cure diseases in mice, not people. its good for public karma!

[shiftzor]

Originally Posted by Gordonm

If it works it will take the FDA 10 years to even think about approving it.

A cure is worth waiting for I would rather they got it right than rushing it.

Originally Posted by Nick3501

If it works the FDA will find a reason NOT to approve it...too much lost money. Ill just move to Australia In north America we like to cure diseases in mice, not people. its good for public karma!

At which point we will all go underground and go to Iraq or somewhere to get our DiabeCells.

Sounds very promising, only time will tell.

[ant hill]

I went looking for the vodcast of CH10's news as I was so interested in this story. I know that CH9 has the vodcasts but not ten unfortunely.
We are so close to a cure as I beleve that the islets cells is the only thing that needs attention. If there is a sucsess in that then what's stopping curing us.

[kstreeter513]

Originally Posted by ant hill

I went looking for the vodcast of CH10's news as I was so interested in this story. I know that CH9 has the vodcasts but not ten unfortunely.
We are so close to a cure as I beleve that the islets cells is the only thing that needs attention. If there is a sucsess in that then what's stopping curing us.

I'm with you anthill. I am trying to remain positive. I know the FDA drags their feet, but I will travel wherever I have to go outside the US if a cure is out there.

[sedita]

Originally Posted by Nick3501

If it works the FDA will find a reason NOT to approve it...too much lost money. Ill just move to Australia In north America we like to cure diseases in mice, not people. its good for public karma!

Here we go again with this debate. It drives me nuts. How will the FDA lose money??? The FDA doesn't make money on drugs. Yes there is a fee for the FDA to review a drug or treatment, but the FDA isn't getting money from the sales of the drugs. LCT would have to pay the FDA a fee in order to approve its therapy as well. I forget the exact cost, but most drugs seeking approval (there are some exceptions) pays in the range of $500K to $1M.

The FDA doesn't have it out for drug companies they actually want to approve drugs and works closely with them to assist them in understanding what is required in order to get approval. unfortunately sometimes these companies don't listen and at the end of their trials it turns out they didn't do what was necessary.

And as far as curing disease in mice and not people. This is just silly. Yes, it is all part of the process. Unforutnately, the public doesn't alwasy understand the complexity of developing drugs and the fact that moving agents from animals to humans
is complex and often the results doen't translate well. People want a cure and they want it now. These are also the first people that line up to sue pharma when a drug causes some unforeseen side effect 10yrs down the road. You can't have it both ways.

[sedita]

Here is actually another very cool approach to the problem. No telling if it will actually yeild results, but people are looking at more than one way to skin this cat. People have been looking at encapsulation for years. Not an easy problem to solve.

Testicular sertoli cells protect islet beta-cells from autoimmune destruction in NOD mice by a transforming growth factor-beta1-dependent mechanism -- Suarez-Pinzon et al. 49 (11): 1810 -- Diabetes

[ant hill]

Originally Posted by sedita

Testicular sertoli cells protect islet beta-cells from autoimmune destruction in NOD mice by a transforming growth factor-beta1-dependent mechanism -- Suarez-Pinzon et al. 49 (11): 1810 -- Diabetes

Sorry Sedita, This is been produced in 2000.

Diabetes, Vol 49, Issue 11 1810-1818, Copyright © 2000 by American Diabetes Association

Whare is the latest in the cure for us??

[archimeech]

http://www.islet.org/20080508_LCT_Channel10.wmv


Here's the link to the interview from another website that I frequent. (sorry Tony)
They have it linked from their site, and the site itself is completely devoted to curing Diabetes and the potential that Dr. Elliot and his team have. Very exciting stuff. I've even bought stock in LCT myself. (not an advertizement, mind you) but should you want to buy it in the US, send me a note and I'll tell you how I went about doing it.
M_

[shiftzor]

Originally Posted by archimeech

Here's the link to the interview from another website that I frequent. (sorry Tony)
They have it linked from their site, and the site itself is completely devoted to curing Diabetes and the potential that Dr. Elliot and his team have. Very exciting stuff. I've even bought stock in LCT myself. (not an advertizement, mind you) but should you want to buy it in the US, send me a note and I'll tell you how I went about doing it.
M_

Quite why they turned something so serious into a "joke" I don't know, besides that it is good to know that it is being successful so far. I mainly wanted to respond to your signature, I do feel that we as diabetics can manage this disease. Everyone on this forum is managing it, in varying degrees. Yes its hard work but we all manage to get a reasonable level of control and there are many people who have prevented complications through control, it is not all doom and gloom. With or without a cure we will continue to manage this disease.

[archimeech]

Shift,
I appreciate what you're saying. Talk to any of the long time forumites about my attitude and you'll understand the quote. Of course I'm not going to stop managing my health, but don't be foolish enough to think that we are ultimately in control of anything. Eventually some complication of Diabetes will take us all, it just depends on how well we can take care of ourselves and our genetics as to when that will be and what malady will do us in. I'm not a pessimist, just a realist. I still stand by my quote.

Originally Posted by shiftzor

Quite why they turned something so serious into a "joke" I don't know, besides that it is good to know that it is being successful so far. I mainly wanted to respond to your signature, I do feel that we as diabetics can manage this disease. Everyone on this forum is managing it, in varying degrees. Yes its hard work but we all manage to get a reasonable level of control and there are many people who have prevented complications through control, it is not all doom and gloom. With or without a cure we will continue to manage this disease.

[sedita]

Originally Posted by ant hill

Sorry Sedita, This is been produced in 2000.



Whare is the latest in the cure for us??

Anthill,
Sorry I wasn't clear in my post. The only point I was attempting to make was that people are approaching this issue from many different directions. Encapsulation is one, promoting immunotolerance using pharmacotherapy following implatation of (non-encapsulated) beta cells is another, Sertoli cell protection of beta cells is another. And I am sure people are investigating many other ways of curing this disease.

The encapsulated beta cell thread comes up here often, and we have to remember not to hang our hopes on a single approach to a cure. When I was interviewing for grad school in 2000, I spoke with a professor regarding my interest in T-1 diabetes reasearch and the subject of encapsulated beta cells arose. This professor mentioned that she knew researchers that had been working in the area for at least the previous 10 years.

I hope this works, but like all medication or therapies you must expect the worst and hope for the best. Very few things actually make it to market because it is incredibly difficult to develop these treatments.

One thing I think some people fail to realize or remember is how long it takes to develop a new drug or treatment. It takes on average about 6-8 years just to move something through Phase I-III trials to FDA approval. This isn't including the years of preclinical development that it takes.

[shiftzor]

Originally Posted by archimeech

Shift,
I appreciate what you're saying. Talk to any of the long time forumites about my attitude and you'll understand the quote. Of course I'm not going to stop managing my health, but don't be foolish enough to think that we are ultimately in control of anything. Eventually some complication of Diabetes will take us all, it just depends on how well we can take care of ourselves and our genetics as to when that will be and what malady will do us in. I'm not a pessimist, just a realist. I still stand by my quote.

While we may share the same fate, we do not share the same path. I maybe an optimist and share your hope for that elusive cure, but refuse to say that there is only one answer to this problem. I am not delusional enough to think that I can magically escape this disease and all its effects. I hope only to prolong this life as long as I am capable with the tools that sit in front of me. These porcine islet cells are no cure; they are simply another evolution of insulin delivery. I am not putting them down only seeing them for what they are, we still have an underlying autoimmune disease and could still die of diabetic complications even if they are different to current "complications". Nature has a way of fighting back.

Maybe I am arguing your case for you. Just depends how you look at it.