Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

More than insulin

Nature Biotechnology volume 29, pages 782–785 (2011)Cite this article

Subjects

For a century, insulin has been the only drug available to type 1 diabetics. Now a raft of novel drugs are coming through the pipeline. Michael Eisenstein reports.

The annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association in June brought a mixture of hope and disappointment for type 1 diabetes patients. On one hand, Stockholm-based Diamyd Medical presented data demonstrating that their vaccination-based strategy failed to halt progression in a closely watched European phase 3 trial and subsequently announced the early termination of a parallel US phase 3 trial. On the other, a pair of presentations showed that teplizumab (a humanized monoclonal antibody (mAb) against CD3 on T cells), another high-profile drug candidate with disappointing phase 3 results, may be reborn as an agent for protecting pancreatic function. Both outcomes illustrate the challenges confronting researchers attempting to design therapies to provide type 1 diabetes patients with a safe and effective alternative to insulin.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Growing a new pancreas.

Source: ViaCyte

References

  1. Fischer, B. et al. Expert Opin. Biol. Ther. 2, 265–272 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Couri, C.E. et al. J. Am. Med. Assoc. 301, 1573–1579 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Tang, Q. et al. J. Exp. Med. 199, 1455–1465 (2004).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Suarez-Pinzon, W.L. et al. Cell Transplant. 17, 631–640 (2008).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Thorel, F. et al. Nature 464, 1149–1154 (2010).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Skyler, J.S. et al. Diabetes Care 28, 1068–1076 (2005).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Malecki, M. & Klusacek, M. Biosimilars: ESAs, Insulins, and Human Growth Hormones (Decision Resources, 2009). <http://decisionresources.com/Products-and-Services/Report?r=drrppl0309>

    Google Scholar 

  8. El-Khatib, F.H. et al. Sci. Transl. Med. 2, 27ra27 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Philadelphia

    Michael Eisenstein

Authors
  1. Michael Eisenstein
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Eisenstein, M. More than insulin. Nat Biotechnol 29, 782–785 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.1967

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.1967

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing: Translational Research

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Translational Research newsletter — top stories in biotechnology, drug discovery and pharma.

Get what matters in translational research, free to your inbox weekly. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Translational Research