The first milestone was completion of pharmacokinetic studies of the CureDM Human proIslet Peptide (HIP) in serum. These studies were important for defining structural improvements that stabilize the peptide for human therapeutic use.
The second milestone was to show the ability of HIP to reverse diabetes in mice. The well-recognized Streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes model was used to show a significant decrease in glucose levels in the treatment group as compared with the placebo group. In addition, the treatment groups required progressively less insulin over the course of the 28-day study, and one entire group, treated with a proprietary CureDM HIP derivative, was actually completely insulin-free by day 21.
The studies were conducted under blinded, placebo-controlled conditions at Calvert Laboratories in Scranton, PA. Upham comments, “The ultimate goal is to change diabetes from a chronic, progressive disease to a transient metabolic disorder. Demonstrating efficacy in mice is tremendously exciting. Ultimately, we believe that HIP will be shown to be capable of restoring normal glucose metabolism in humans.”