Taiwan, U.S. approve trials of locally developed diabetes drug

2012/02/20 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. Because type 2 diabetes is also prevalent in many countries around the world, a large number of foreign pharmaceutical conglomerates have invested heavily in developing medications to treat the condition, Chao said. At present, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 (DPP-4) inhibitors, designed to reduce the amount of glucose in the blood, are new and effective medications for type 2 diabetes, with an annual market value of US$3 billion, Chao said. "The locally developed DBPR108 aims to restore blood glucose levels to normal by increasing insulin sensitivity and raising glucose tolerability," Chao said. Moreover, DBPR108 is safer and has fewer side effects than many other DPP4 inhibitors available on the market, based on toxicity testing on animals, Chao said. The NHRI has spent many years developing the drug, with financial support from a science and technology development fund under the Executive Yuan and six local pharmaceutical companies, including Genovate Biotechnology Co., China Chemical and Pharmaceutical Co., Nan Kuang Pharmaceutical Co., Yung Shin Pharmaceuticals Industry Co., TTY Biopharm Co., and Taiwan Biotech Co. The drug candidate has already been patented in many countries, including Taiwan, the U.S., China, Australia, South Korea and Australia.