ActiveSite Pharmaceuticals : Small Molecule Protease Inhibitor Blocks Retinal Blood Vessel Damage in Rodent Model of Diabetes

March 28, 2011 - ActiveSite Pharmaceuticals, Inc., announced the online publication of a study in the journal Diabetes that describes the effectiveness of its novel plasma kallikrein inhibitor ASP-440 in reducing blood-retinal barrier breakdown in a rodent model of diabetes. Diabetes-induced breakdown of the blood-retinal barrier results in leaky blood vessels in the eye, and the gradual buildup of fluid in the retina from the leakage can result in diabetic macular edema (DME), the primary cause of vision loss in diabetic individuals. DME affects more than 1 million individuals in the U.S. alone, and no FDA-approved medicines are currently available for its treatment.

In the study, co-authored by scientists from the Joslin Diabetes Center, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School, and ActiveSite Pharmaceuticals, the integrity of the blood-retinal barrier in diabetic rats was measured using a well-established technique that measures the leakage of the plasma protein albumin from the vascular compartment into the retina. Compared to non-diabetic healthy rats, diabetic animals demonstrated a 2.6-fold increase in the rate of albumin leakage into the retina. Treatment of diabetic animals with systemically-administered ASP-440 for four weeks reduced the excess rate of albumin leakage by more than 80%, without affecting blood glucose.

ASP-440 was also effective in preventing blood-retinal barrier breakdown in hypertensive rats, reducing excessive albumin leakage into the retina by 90% following systemic treatment for seven days, without affecting blood pressure. Hypertension is a known risk factor for development of DME... ActiveSite Pharmaceuticals' Press Release -

Sirona Biochem : Scale Up of Compounds to Accelerate Development of Diabetes Program

January 12, 2011 – Sirona Biochem Corp. (TSX-V: SBM) (the “Company”), a biotechnology company specializing in carbohydrate-based molecules, including therapeutics for diabetes and obesity, announced it has contracted Roowin to scale up a key intermediate for its lead diabetes drug candidate, a sodium glucose transporter (SGLT) inhibitor. Roowin is a privately owned Contract Research Organization (CRO) headquartered in Paris, France. Its core business is in high value-added fine chemistry. Roowin will bring expanded capabilities to Sirona Biochem’s research and help accelerate the preclinical development of its lead candidate for Type 2 diabetes.



“Recent positive preclinical data of our lead SGLT-2 inhibitor demonstrates that we are on the right track in developing a new Type 2 diabetes treatment and by scaling up this key intermediate we can speed up our preclinical process... Sirona Biochem's Press Release -

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and Selecta Biosciences : Research Collaboration for Vaccines for Type 1 Diabetes

June 9, 2011 – The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) and Selecta Biosciences, Inc. announced that they have established a research collaboration to support Selecta's development of a vaccine technology, which may subsequently help to better treat and potentially prevent type 1 diabetes.

Through the research partnership, JDRF will provide milestone-based financial support and expertise, with the goal of applying Selecta's vaccine technology toward the development of vaccines for type 1 diabetes.

Selecta's vaccine technology would ultimately be applied to create a therapeutic that would halt or prevent the autoimmune response that causes type 1 diabetes. Known as antigen-specific tolerogenic vaccines, these vaccines are designed to specifically stop the autoimmune response that causes the disease without damaging the immune cells that provide protection against infection. Antigen-specific therapies have shown promise to date in animal models of type 1 diabetes.

In addition to their potential in preventing type 1 diabetes, tolerogenic diabetes vaccines could have other benefits. For example, they could be used in conjunction with other therapies to preserve remaining beta cell function in individuals recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. This type of vaccine could also help with regeneration and replacement therapies, and be used to protect newly regenerated or transplanted insulin-producing beta cells in established type 1 diabetes. In addition, this class of vaccines may also have applicability for other autoimmune diseases... Selecta Biosciences' Press Release - The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's Press Release -

LCT and Otsuka of Japan : Common DIABECELL ® Vision

April 12, 2011 ― Otsuka Pharmaceutical Factory, Inc. (head office: Naruto City, Tokushima, Japan; President: Ichiro Otsuka) (“OPF”) entered into a share subscription agreement on April 12, 2011 with Living Cell Technologies Limited (head office: Auckland, New Zealand, Managing Director & CEO：Ross Macdonald) (“LCT”) with respect to subscription for LCT’s new shares.
Under the agreement, OPF will invest AUD3 million in LCT for 25 million ordinary shares (A$0.12 per share). This investment will result in OPF holding 8.2% of LCT’s outstanding shares.
In addition to subscription for LCT’s new shares, OPF has earned an exclusive right to negotiate with LCT for research and development toward commercialization of LCT’s pancreatic islet “DIABECELL” and exclusive license and distribution right in Japan and other Asian countries (except for China).

It is OPF’s objective, through obtaining the rights for development and commercialization of this pancreatic islet DIABECELL, to offer additional therapeutic options for patients with diabetes, and to strengthen its R&D in the field of regenerative medicine and further actively expand its business not only in Japan but also on the international stage... [PDF] Otsuka Pharmaceutical Factory's Press Release - [PDF] Living Cell Technologies' Press Release -