Current Research into Cures for Type-1 Diabetes: IMCY-0098 Starts a Phase-I Clinical Trial

Thursday, November 30, 2017

IMCY-0098 Starts a Phase-I Clinical Trial

I always enjoy blogging about a clinical trial for a new treatment, done by a new company, which hopes to cure type-1 diabetes. As I understand it, Imcyse, the company doing this research, has a method for creating peptides (small pieces of a protein) which will generate a type of immune cell that is able to destroy the immune cells of the body responsible for the disease. If this works, they can specifically target the cells that are causing autoimmune diseases. The company is going after Type-1 Diabetes (first), Multiple Sclerosis (second), and several other diseases after that. IMCY-0098 is the code name for their peptide targeting T1D.

IMCY-0098 Starts a Phase-I Clinical Trial

This study started in Aug 2017 and they hope to finish in Dec 2018. They will enroll a total of 40 adult honeymooners (within 6 months of diagnosis) divided up into three groups. In addition to their regular insulin treatments, each group will get a total of 4 injections over 2 months (just below the skin, like an insulin injection). One group will get low dose injections, one group medium dose injections, and the third group will get high dose injections; and each group will contain some controls who will get a placebo. Patients will be followed for 6 months. The researchers will track safety issues, effectiveness (C-peptide, A1c, etc.), and changes in the immune system.

They are currently recruiting in Belgium, Denmark, Cardiff and Oxford, and plan to start soon in France, Germany and additional location in the UK. The list is long, and you can see the exact locations in their clinical trial record: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03272269

Company Web Site: http://www.imcyse.com/en
Trial Web Pages (in different languages):
http://www.bdronline.be/index.php?n=169&id=267&sid=267&taal=F&mnav=2
http://www.bdronline.be/index.php?n=164&id=265&sid=265&taal=N&mnav=2
Clinical Trial Registration: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03272269
Most recent full paper / Results In NOD Mice:
http://www.imcyse.com/upload/documents/publications/Abrahimians-2016.pdf
Some more web sites:
https://www.type1diabetesresearch.org.uk/current-trials/ (Exalt study)
http://www.address2.org/t1d-studies/ (Exalt study)

Discussion

The company's web site includes this page:
http://www.imcyse.com/en/technology-platform
which discusses how they are developing their treatments. Unfortunately, it is too technical for me to understand. But for readers with a background in immunology, this page might be valuable.

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.

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My Non-Conflict of Interest Statement

For the first 10 years of running this blog, I did not work for a company doing medical research. In 2018, I started working for Bigfoot Biomedical, which is developing an "automated insulin dosing/delivery solution" (what many call an Artificial Pancreas).
I blog on research aimed at curing type-1 diabetes, and I view Bigfoot Biomedical's work as treating type-1 diabetes (not a cure at all). Therefore, I don't view this work as conflicting with my blogging. However, if you consider the kind of automated insulin dosing/delivery solution that Bigfoot is developing to be an actual cure for type-1, then this would conflict with my blogging. I think they are quite different.
I don't get paid in any way by any company working on a cure for type-1 diabetes; I never have. And that includes free samples, free travel, or free anything. I do sometimes participate in market research studies or focus groups, and they sometimes pay.
None of the hours that I have put into my blog, or the posts that I make to any web site, has ever been paid for. (Except for some very nice and heart felt thank-you emails, and those are worth more than money.)
My daughter has type-1 diabetes and participates in clinical trials. I sometimes report on trials that she participates in, but I do not reveal her participation because I consider her medical history to be private.
I sometimes "beta test" new software or devices involved in type-1 diabetes. When I'm blogging about something where I have been given special access, I say so.
In the past I have volunteered with JDRF and The NIIB Project. I currently am a fellow with JDCA. The JDRF and NIIB work was completely unpaid. JDCA has given me equipment that I use to help my blogging, and on one occasion paid for specific consulting work.