NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - October 21, 2014) - Nuvilex, Inc. (
Now, almost one year later, Nuvilex has quite possibly made a game-changing leap forward in that race by securing a line of "live cells" that could potentially be encapsulated in the Cell-in-a-Box technology.
Last week the company announced that it has secured the worldwide rights to use human insulin-producing cells (Melligen cells), developed by professor Ann Simpson and her colleagues at the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia (UTS), for the development of a treatment for insulin-dependent (Type 1 or juvenile-onset) diabetes.
In these two agreements, Nuvilex has the necessary ingredients, a delivery system and human insulin-producing cells, to develop a treatment that can compete commercially in the almost $500 billion global diabetes healthcare market. Currently there is a mad dash to develop such a treatment that can address what is becoming a real epidemic with close to 400 million people worldwide living with diabetes. According to the International Diabetes Federation, that number is expected to balloon to 552 million by 2030.
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which a person's pancreas stops producing insulin, which is a hormone that enables people to get energy from the foods they eat. It occurs when the body's immune system attacks and destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, called beta cells. Currently treating the disease requires a lifetime of daily injections of insulin to control blood glucose levels.
When Dru-Ann Sgarlato of Fredericksburg, Virginia, and the mother of a 12 year old Type 1 diabetic, read that Nuvilex had secured the worldwide rights to use these human insulin-producing cells, she said, "Amazing! It's sometimes frustrating that they can do all of this but we still don't have a cure. Hell, if my son Devin could have 2 years before having to inject these cells again it would be so worth it. I'd cry and fall to my knees."
The 2 years that Dru-Ann is referring to relates to one of many advantages Nuvilex's delivery system has over the competition. Cell-in-a-Box is a cellulose-based encapsulation technology that has proven through two Phase I/II advanced pancreatic cancer clinical trials that it does not break down even after long periods of time (greater than 2 years) after being implanted inside the body.
Another key advantage that Cell-in-a-Box holds over competing cell encapsulation technologies, which is especially relevant to a diabetes treatment, is that the capsules do not elicit a response from the body's immune system which would destroy the capsules and the insulin-producing cells inside them.
Dru-Ann Sgarlato is a typical parent of a diabetic child who spends every single day dealing with injections and pumps and constantly monitoring blood glucose levels to keep her son safe. "We check Devin's blood sugar approximately 15 times a day and all through the night, every night. At year's end, Devin's fingers have been poked no less than 5,400 times."
The Melligen cells will have to endure preclinical and clinical testing, but essentially they would replace the insulin-secreting beta cells that have been destroyed by the autoimmune process in Type 1 diabetics.
Professor Ann Simpson and her team developed the Melligen cells which were originally derived from a human liver cancer cell line. Before Nuvilex can use the cells in the development of its treatment, the company will first have to prove that they do not form tumors (tumorigenic) when implanted into animals. If studies successfully prove the Melligen cells are not tumorigenic, Nuvilex plans to have them encapsulated using the Cell-in-a-Box technology as part of its planned treatment for diabetes.
It is believed that animal testing of the encapsulated Melligen cells will prove that they are capable of producing insulin "on demand" in diabetic animals. As blood glucose levels rise in animals implanted with Melligen cells, these cells will produce increasing amounts of insulin in response. When blood glucose levels fall, less insulin will be produced by the Melligen cells.
Nuvilex's decision to acquire the worldwide rights to use Cell-in-a-Box to develop a diabetes treatment was based, almost exclusively, on the results of a "proof-of-principle" study, much like the Melligen cells will endure, where islet cells (from pigs) that produce insulin were transplanted into diabetic rats. The rats had much higher than normal levels of glucose in their bloodstream and had a difficult time controlling their glucose levels, just as humans with diabetes do.
In those diabetic rats that received Cell-in-a-Box with the encapsulated islet cells, their blood glucose levels normalized and remained stable for the duration of a 6 month study, indicating the encapsulated cells produced insulin in response to their higher than normal blood glucose levels.
According to the company, the cellulose-based Cell-in-a-Box technology seems to have prevented the encapsulated cells inside from being attacked by the diabetic rats' immune systems, even in the absence of immunosuppressive drugs.
So, in this "proof-of-principle" study, the encapsulated cells appear to have acted as a type of "artificial" or replacement pancreas. Now, the company hopes to duplicate that success, this time with human insulin-producing cells. Ultimately, Nuvilex's plan is to encapsulate Melligen cells using the Cell-in-a-Box technology and then placing them into patients with Type 1 diabetes where, hopefully, they will serve long term as a form of "bio-artificial pancreas."
About Stock Market Media Group
SMMG is a Research and Content Development IR firm offering a platform for corporate stories to unfold in the media with research reports, CEO interviews and feature news articles. SMMG is compensated $5,000 per month by a third party for content development related to Nuvilex, Inc. Previously, SMMG was compensated for similar content by a third party which occurred from February 2013 through August 2014. During that period, SMMG received approximately $110,000 for its content. Additionally, a principal at SMMG owns 200,000 total shares of Nuvilex, Inc. issued by the company through a consulting agreement, which has since ended, for work unrelated to content development. All shares have been held for the requisite period under Rule 144 as of April 30, 2014, and are eligible to be sold immediately without further notice. For more information: www.stockmarketmediagroup.com.
Contact Information:
Contact:
Stock Market Media Group
info@stockmarketmediagroup.com