In the US, we are in the "Walking Season" when JDRF asks us to walk to raise money for a cure. So I'd like to do my part, by reminding you all of how important JDRF is to the human trials of potential cures for type-1 diabetes, which I track.
Let me give you the punch line up front: 71% of the treatments currently in human trials have been funded by JDRF. (And the number is 83% for the later phase trials) This is a strong impact; one that any non-profit should be proud of. This summary does not include Artificial Pancreas research or stem cell growth trials, because there are so many of those that it would be hard to include them all.
Below is a list of all the potential cures, grouped by phase of trial that they are currently in, and separated into potential cures that JDRF has funded, and those that JDRF has never funded.
This list is a list of treatments, and many of these are being tested in more than one clinical trial. For example, the "ATG and autotransplant" treatment is actually running three trials, but since they are all testing the same treatment, it is only one item in the list. The list below uses the following marks to show the nature of the treatments:
(Established) One or more trials are open to people who have had type-1 diabetes for over a year.
(Prevention) This treatment is aimed at preventing type-1 diabetes, not curing it.
Also remember that I give an organization credit for funding a treatment if they funded it at any point in development; I don't limit it to the current trial. For example, JDRF is not funding the current trials for AAT, but they did fund earlier research into it, which helped it grow into human trials. I include indirect funding of various kinds. For example, the JDRF funds nPOD, ITN, and several other organizations, so I include research done by these other groups as well as being indirectly JDRF funded.
New This Year: Phase-II? Trials
Starting this year, I'm dividing Phase-II trials into two groups. Phase-II trials are "classic" phase-II trials; they are done after a successful Phase-I trial in type-1 diabetes. What I call Phase-II? trials are done with treatments which are known safe, so they don't need Phase-I trials, but have never been tested on type-1 diabetes before. These Phase-II? trials might be Phase-II from the point of view of safety, but they are Phase-I in terms of effectiveness, so I'm putting them in their own category.
Cures in Phase-III Human Trials
Summary: currently there are no treatments aimed at curing type-1 diabetes which are in phase-III trials (under the definition of cure that I use). This is the fourth year in a row there have been no phase-III trials underway, and it's not a good thing. Even worse, I don't see a phase-III study starting even next year. Some people might be discouraged by that, but for me, it's a reason to donate. Money is the thing that is going to move the Phase-II studies listed below into Phase-III studies, and the Phase-I studies to Phase-II, create more Phase-I studies, and so on.
Cures in Phase-II Human Trials
Summary: there are 24 trials in phase-II, and 20 of them have been funded by JDRF, while 4 have not. Here are the treatments that have been funded by JDRF:
- AAT (Alpha-1 Antitrypsin) by Grifols Therapeutics and also Kamada
- ATG and GCSF by Haller at University of Florida (Established)
- Abatacept by Orban at Joslin Diabetes Center
- Abatacept by Skyler at University of Miami (Prevention)
- Aldesleukin (Proleukin) at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, UK
- Diabecell by Living Cell Technologies (Established)
- Diamyd, Ibuprofen ("Advil"), and Vitamin D by Ludvigsson at Linköping University
- Diamyd, Etanercep, and Vitamin D by Ludvigsson at Linköping University
- Diamyd and Vitamin D by Larsson at Lund University (Prevention)
- Gleevec by Gitelman at UCSF
- Gluten Free Diet: Three Studies (Preventative)
- Oral Insulin (Preventative)
- Polyclonal Tregs by both Trzonkowski and Gitelman
- Stem Cell Educator by Zhao (Established)
- Teplizumab (AbATE study team)
- Teplizumab by Herold/Skyler/Rafkin (Prevention)
- Tocilizumab by Greenbaum/Buckner at Benaroya Research Institute
- Umbilical Cord Blood Infusion by Haller at University of Florida
- Ustekinumab by University of British Columbia
- Verapamil by Shalev/Ovalle at University of Alabama at Birmingham
Not funded by JDRF:
- ATG and autotransplant by Burt, and also Snarski, and also Li
- BCG by Faustman at MGH (Established)
- Dual Stem Cell by Tan at Fuzhou General Hospital
- Vitamin D by Stephens at Nationwide Children's Hospital (Prevention)
Cures in Phase-II? Human Trials
Summary: there are 4 trials in phase-II, and 1 of them has been funded by JDRF, while 3 have not. Here are the treatments that have been funded by JDRF:
- Rituximab by Pescovitz at Indiana University
Not funded by JDRF:
- Albiglutide by GlaxoSmithKline
- Ladarixin by Emanuele Bosi of Dompé Farmaceutici
- Rapamycin Vildagliptin Combo by IRCCS (Established)
Cures in Phase-I Human Trials
Summary: there are 24 trials in phase-I, and 16 of them are funded by JDRF, while 8 are not. Here is the list funded by JDRF:
- Alefacept by TrialNet
- ßAir by Beta-O2's at Uppsala University Hospital in Sweden (Established)
- TOL-3021 by Bayhill Therapeutics (Established)
- CGSF by Haller at University of Florida
- Trucco at Children’s Hospital of Pitt / Dendritic Cells (DV-0100) by DiaVacs (Established)
- Exsulin and Ustekinumab by Rosenberg at Jewish General Hospital, Canada (Established)
- IBC-VS01 by Orban at Joslin Diabetes Center
- Leptin by Garg at University of Texas
- Metformin by Littleford at The University of Exeter (Prevention)
- MultiPepT1De (Multi Peptide Vaccine) by Powrie at King’s College London
- Nasal insulin by Harrison at Melbourne Health (Prevention)
- Smart Insulin (MK-2640) by Merck (Established)
- Tauroursodeoxycholic Acid (TUDCA) by Goland at Columbia University
- Polyclonal Tregs by both Trzonkowski and Gitelman
- Pro insulin peptide by Dayan at Cardiff University
- VC-01 by Viacyte (Established)
Not funded by JDRF:
- CGSF and autotransplant by Esmatjes at Hospital Clinic of Barcelona (Established)
- Encapsulated Islets at University clinical Hospital Saint-Luc (Established)
- Mesenchymal Stromal Cell by Carlsson at Uppsala University
- Microvesicles (MVs) and Exosomes by Nassar at Sahel Teaching Hospital
- Monolayer Cellular Device (Established)
- Rilonacept by White at University of Texas
- Substance P by Vanilloid Genetics at Hospital for Sick Children Toronto (Established)
- The Sydney Project, Encapsulated Stem Cells (Established)
Summary of all Trials
52 in total
37 funded by JDRF
So 71% of the human trials currently underway are funded (either directly or indirectly) by JDRF. Everyone who donates to JDRF should be proud of this huge impact; and everyone who works for JDRF or volunteers for it, should be doubly proud.
Just Looking at Trials on Established Type-1 Diabetics
15 of these treatments (29%) are being tested on established type-1 diabetics.
Of these, 9 are funded by JDRF
So 60% of the trials recruiting established type-1 diabetics are funded by JDRF.
Compared to Last Year
In 2015 there were 42 treatments in clinical trials, in 2016 there are 52 (growth of 24%)
In 2015 there were no treatments in Phase-III trials, in 2016 there are none (no change).
In 2015 there were 22 treatments in Phase-II and Phase-II? trials, in 2016 there are 28 (growth of 27%).
In
2015 there were 20 treatments in Phase-I trials, in 2016 there are 24 (growth of 20%).
How I Count Trials for This Comparison
- I give an organization credit for funding a cure if it funded that cure at any point in it's development cycle.
- I mark the start of a research trial when the researchers start recruiting patients (and if there is any uncertainty, when the first patient is dosed). Some researchers talk about starting a trial when they submit the paper work, which is usually months earlier.
- If there are different clinical trials aimed at proving effectiveness as a cure and as a preventative, or effectiveness in honeymooners and established diabetics, then those are counted separately.
- For trials which use combinations of two or more different treatments, I give funding credit, if the organization in the past funded any component of a combination treatment, or if they are funding the current combined treatment. Also, I list experiments separately if they use at least one different drug.
- The ITN (Immune Tolerance Network) has JDRF as a major funder, so I count ITN as indirect JDRF funding.
- I have made no attempt to find out how much funding different organizations gave to different research. This would be next to impossible for long research programs, anyway.
- Funding of research is not my primary interest, so I don't spend a lot of time tracking down details in this area. I might be wrong on details.
- I use the term "US Gov" for all the different branches and organizations within the United States of America's federal government (so includes NIDDK, NIAID, NICHD, etc.)
- I don't work for the US Gov, JDRF, or any of the other organizations discussed here. I have a more complete non-conflict of interest statement on my web site.
Some Specific Notes:
- Serova's Cell Pouch and DRI's BioHub: These two clinical trials are both testing one piece of infrastructure which might be used later in a cure. They are testing a part of a potential cure. However, in both cases, the clinical trials being run now require immunosuppression for the rest of the patient's life, so I'm not counting them as testing a cure.
- Substance P at Hospital for Sick Children Toronto: This trial is avoiding the honeymoon period by tested for insulin production. Patients must inject more than 1/2 unit/kg to be accepted, therefore they will accept recently diagnosed people, if they are injecting enough insulin to be passed the honeymoon. I'm counting this as "Established".
Treatments Removed This Year:
- Etanercept (ENBREL) by Quattrin at University at Buffalo (no movement since 2008)
- Brod at University of Texas-Health Science Center (no movement since 2009)
This is an update and extension to blog postings that I've made for the previous seven years:
Finally, please remember that my blog (and therefore this posting) covers research aimed at curing or preventing type-1 diabetes that is currently being tested in humans. There is a lot more research going on, not covered here.
Special Note: The JDRF's Role in The First Artificial Pancreas Approval by The FDA
Although not strictly a "cure" the artificial Pancreas is clearly a huge breakthrough in diabetes treatment which will vastly lower complications, hassle, and "dead in bed" situations. The JDRF deserves a lot of credit for getting an AP to market now. First, the JDRF funded a lot of the basic research (and some not-so-basic research as well). But it also helped clear the regulatory hurdles. Even five years ago, the FDA's policies and procedures made it very difficult to get an AP approved (even one that worked well). Simpler medical devices were approved in the EU many months before they were approved in the US. The JDRF was instrumental in changing that. The JDRF organized and led an informal consortium of diabetes advocates which, on the one hand, assembled scientific evidence and, on the other hand, applied grassroots political pressure which together resulted in the FDA adopting reasonable policies, and (eventually) this AP approval.
Please think of this posting as being my personal "thank you" note to all the JDRF staff, volunteers, and everyone who donates money to research a cure for type-1 diabetes:
Thank You!
Finally, if you see any mistakes or oversights in this posting, please tell me! There is a lot of information packed into this small posting, and I've made mistakes in the past.
Joshua Levy
http://cureresearch4type1diabetes.blogspot.com
publicjoshualevy at gmail dot com
All the views expressed here are those of Joshua Levy, and nothing here is official JDRF or JDCA news, views, policies or opinions. My daughter has type-1 diabetes and participates in clinical trials, which might be discussed here. My blog contains a more complete non-conflict of interest statement. Thanks to everyone who helps with the blog.
