The treatment landscape for type 1 diabetes is seeing significant developments, with several biopharmaceutical companies progressing toward therapies that may allow patients to achieve insulin independence, according to a July 20 report from BioSpace.
Recent years have brought a range of innovative approaches aimed at modifying or even preventing the progression of type 1 diabetes. Michael Haller, professor and chief of pediatric endocrinology at the University of Florida and chair of the NIH-funded research network TrialNet, said, “My grandfather had type 1, so I have early childhood memories of the time when just staying out of severe hypoglycemia and hyperglycemic crisis was considered doing well. To be where we are now from the treatment side of things is remarkable progress.”
One notable milestone is Sanofi’s expanded approval last month for Tzield as the first disease-modifying therapy for pediatric patients with stage 3 type 1 diabetes. Haller called this “the tip of the spear,” suggesting it could lead to more options in the future. He said, “The approval of a disease-modifying therapy like [Tzield], and hopefully now these other drugs in the pipeline can achieve a similar regulatory approval process and allow us to use personalized approaches to figure out which therapies are going to work best for individual patients.”
A number of companies are targeting different stages or segments within type 1 diabetes. SAB Biotherapeutics’ lead candidate SAB-142 aims to preserve beta cell function by adjusting immune response. CEO Sam Reich said that their drug combines human antibody tolerability with animal-derived effectiveness but without severe side effects: “It’s great Tzield was approved. It’s great for patients and it’s great for us, because they led the way in how to study a drug… if our drug works, we may be able to extend that two years indefinitely with infusions twice a year, and no insulin.” SAB-142 has entered Phase 2b pivotal trials.
Other efforts include Eledon Pharmaceuticals’ tegoprubart for post-transplant patients; an investigator-initiated trial found all twelve participants achieved insulin independence after cellular transplantation using this therapy. Vertex Pharmaceuticals has reported that its stem cell-derived zimislecel enabled most trial participants to stop injected insulin one year after infusion.
Despite these advances, Emily Bodnar from H.C. Wainwright noted challenges remain: “The key innovation patients and physicians are hoping for is a therapy that doesn’t require immunosuppression… But that’s a long way down the road,” said Bodnar. Companies such as Sana Biotechnology are exploring gene-modified cells as potential solutions without immunosuppression requirements.
