Taiwan, U.S. approve trials of locally developed diabetes drug
Clinical Trial News Thursday, February 23rd, 2012Focus Taiwan: 2012/02/20 22:57:39
Taipei, Feb. 20 (CNA) The first phase of clinical trials of a locally developed anti-diabetes drug candidate, code-named DBPR108, will soon be launched both in Taiwan and the United States, the National Health Research Institutes (NHRI) announced Monday.
“Both Taiwan and U.S. health authorities have given the green light to phase 1 clinical trials of DBPR108 compound on humans,” Chao Yu-sheng, director of the NHRI’s biotechnology and pharmaceutical division, said at a news conference.
The compound is the first entirely locally developed drug candidate to treat type 2 diabetes, the most common form of diabetes.
In type 2 diabetes, with is often weight-related, either the body does not produce enough insulin or the cells ignore the insulin, which is necessary for the body to be able to transform glucose into energy by transferring it from the blood to cells.
A lack of insulin results in glucose building up in one’s blood.
Type 2 diabetes has become increasingly prevalent in Taiwan as more people eat Western diets, Chao said, and there are now about 2 million type 2 diabetes patients in the country. Read more
