Japanese rescue diabetes therapy

Living Cell provides pig cell transplants to help diabetics. Photo / Thinkstock

The revolutionary pig-cell transplants that have shown promise internationally in treating diabetics are expected to be commercially available in New Zealand within three years after a $32.3 million Japanese rescue package.

The type 1 diabetes therapy, more than 20 years in the making, could remove both the need for insulin injections and the risk of the disease causing serious disabilities or death.

It is estimated that more than 20 million people worldwide, including 15,000 in New Zealand, have the auto-immune disorder.

Living Cell Technologies was fast running out of cash and facing closure within months before yesterday's announcement of a deal with the Otsuka Pharmaceutical Factory, part of a large Japanese group whose products include sports drinks, cancer drugs and intravenous solutions.

"We had three to four months left of liquid capital," said Living Cell acting chief executive Professor Bob Elliott. "The balance sheet told you the company was going to go out of existence at around Christmas time."

But it has been saved from that by a A$25 million ($32.3 million) injection by Otsuka.

Already an investor in Living Cell, Otsuka is taking a half share of the diabetes project, which the two companies will own as a joint venture.

Elliott said Living Cell would continue with the diabetes treatment for the joint venture, and would be able to accelerate one of its other main projects, a treatment for Parkinson's disease.

"The purpose of the joint venture is to bring the diabetes treatment to being available for treatment rather than clinical trials. There is still about two to three years of further clinical trials required to refine our process, including dose schedules, before getting the product registered."

Living Cell processes pancreatic cells in South Auckland from its piglets. Once transplanted into a type 1 diabetic's abdomen, they secrete insulin in response to blood-glucose levels. The processing encapsulates cell clusters so the patient does not need to take immuno-suppression drugs.

Elliott said the approach from Otsuka came out of the blue and was good news for his company.

"We've got somebody with substantial money coming in behind us. They see it as a good business. They are attracted to it because a couple of members of the Otsuka family have type 1 diabetes."

Living Cell has run successful human trials of the pig-cell therapy in Russia and Auckland and has begun a third, in Argentina.

After refining the optimum number and size of the cell-transplant doses in those studies, it intends to run a final series of clinical trials starting next year, including in Auckland, before licences to market the therapy are sought internationally from medicines regulators.

The Russian trial showed the therapy safely reduced the need of type 1 diabetics for injected insulin, a hormone involved in cells' use of glucose.

The 14 Auckland trial patients had a diabetes complication in which they suddenly and without warning suffered dangerously low blood-glucose levels. The transplants had treated this effectively, Elliott said. The results on drop in insulin dosage and better overall diabetes control were inconsistent, but the majority had experienced improvements on those measures.

CASH INJECTION
* Living Cell Technologies was fast running out of cash before the $32 million deal with the Otsuka Pharmaceutical Factory.
* Otsuka is part of a large Japanese group with products including sports drinks, cancer drugs and intravenous solutions.