Diamyd vaccine to stop diabetes completes European trial

All European participants in a research trial to test an antigen vaccine against type 1 diabetes have completed their part of a 15 month trial. The study is testing whether the vaccine can slow or halt the destruction of the pancreas’s insulin producing beta cells and therefore prevent type 1 diabetes from taking hold.
The trial recruited 320 participants newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes from 60 clinics in 9 different countries. In addition to the European trial, there is also a US trial running. However, the US trial has only recently finished recruiting so this half of the trial will not be complete for at least another 12 months.
The trial has involved testing the vaccine in some of the participants, while others have received a placebo. Out of those who receive the vaccine, one group received 4 doses staggered over 9 months whereas another group received 2 shots staggered over the first month.
If the results of the European study are positive, Diamyd hopes, by the end of the year, to apply for approval to market the drug in Europe.