Biotech Values

[biomaven0]

I've seen lots of PR's aiming to boost a stock price, but this is the first one I've seen with a political agenda:

"this will be a huge bad news for almost 21 million diabetes patients in Bangladesh that they will be totally deprived of getting cured by using DiaPep277. Continuing the travel ban on Israel will actually mean playing with the lives of these 21 million Bangladeshi diabetes patients."

The reality seems a bit more complex:

Expert Opin Biol Ther. 2011 Sep;11(9):1233-40. Epub 2011 Jul 13.
DiaPep277 peptide therapy in the context of other immune intervention trials in type 1 diabetes.
Tuccinardi D, Fioriti E, Manfrini S, D'Amico E, Pozzilli P.
Source
University Campus Bio-Medico, Via Álvaro del Portillo, 21 - 00128, Rome, Italy.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is characterized by the autoimmune destruction of pancreatic ß-cells. The aim of immune intervention is to arrest this autoimmune attack. DiaPep277, a major T-cell epitope of heat shock protein 60 (hsp60), has been shown to be effective in the modulation of the immune response in recent onset T1D and is the main focus of this review in the context of other ongoing trials using different approaches. AREAS COVERED: The authors performed a literature search of Pubmed listed publications (from the last 10 years) and a website search of the company licensing DiaPep277. DiaPep277 has been investigated in Phase I - III trials in humans. Phase II trials showed a significant preservation of ß-cell function in adult T1D patients (but not children) with an absence of adverse effects and not accompanied by lower glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) levels or reduced daily insulin requirement compared with placebo-treated patients. EXPERT OPINION: Administration of DiaPep277 is safe and represents a promising therapeutic strategy in patients with recent-onset T1D. The results of two large Phase III trials will tell us whether this therapy may change our current approach to treating T1D patients at diagnosis.