Golimumab and Beta-Cell Function in Youth with New-Onset Type 1 Diabetes
The UFDI team is dedicated to improving the lives of people affected by type 1 diabetes (T1D). Over the last 25 years, UFDI investigators have played a major role in nearly every clinical trial that has demonstrated a novel way to preserve beta cell function in people with T1D.
In a study published today (DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2006136) in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), University of Florida Diabetes Institute (UFDI) Professor and Chief of Pediatric Endocrinology, Dr. Michael J. Haller, and colleagues, demonstrated that Simponi (golimumab), a drug commonly used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and ulcerative colitis, can be repurposed to slow down the process that causes type 1 diabetes (T1D) in recently diagnosed patients. In the NEJM study, subjects who received Simponi experienced significant preservation of beta cell function, reduction in hypoglycemic events, and lower insulin requirements when compared to subjects who received placebo at the one-year follow up. These exciting findings add another tool the growing armamentarium, of agents capable of changing the natural history of type 1 diabetes.
“These observations prove that we are indeed making progress towards the development of therapies that will one day prevent and reverse type 1 diabetes. The golimumab results represent another tangible step towards achieving our ultimate goal. While our team is always careful to under-promise and over-deliver, these data are undeniably steps in the right direction” said Haller.
Based on these exciting results, UFDI investigators have planned future studies seeking to determine if Simponi can be given even earlier in the disease process to more effectively prevent or delay T1D in high risk patients.
In addition, studies combining Simponi and other complimentary immune therapies are being developed.
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