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news.PharmaCyte Biotech, a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on developing targeted treatments for cancer and diabetes using its signature live-cell encapsulation technology, Cell-in-a-Box(R), announced that its international Diabetes Consortium has met to develop the path forward for the development of a novel treatment for insulin-dependent diabetes and that it has appointed Dr. Eva Maria Brandtner Director of Diabetes Program Development.
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The meeting brought together all members of the Consortium to plan the necessary preclinical studies that will be required to advance its Cell-in-a-Box(R) live-cell encapsulated product for the treatment of diabetes. These studies will be used as a basis to prepare for future clinical trials in humans with diabetes. Dr. Brandtner will lead the planned work of the Consortium.
In addition to the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer of PharmaCyte Biotech, the Consortium is made up of well-known scientists from leading Universities in Munich, Germany, Vienna, Austria, and Sydney, Australia.
It also involves members of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, the Vorarlberg Institute for Vascular Investigation and Treatment (VIVIT) in Feldkirch, Austria and the biotech company Austrianova.
Dr. Brandtner of VIVIT, who is a consultant for PharmaCyte Biotech, previously served as the Chief Scientist with Austrianova. In that role, she conducted preclinical studies with Melligen cells – human cells engineered to produce, store and secrete insulin at levels that are in direct proportion to the levels of glucose (blood sugar) in the human body.
PharmaCyte Biotech has obtained from the University of Sydney (UTS) in Australia an exclusive, worldwide license to use the Melligen cells in the development of PharmaCyte Biotech’s treatment for diabetes.
Prof. Ann. M Simpson and her colleagues at the UTS developed the Melligen cell line. Prof. Simpson is a member of the Consortium and also serves as a consultant to PharmaCyte Biotech.
In addition to key personnel from PharmaCyte Biotech, Dr. Brandtner and Prof. Simpson, the Consortium includes principals from our partner Austrianova, namely Prof. Walter H. Gunzburg, the Chief Scientific Officer of PharmaCyte Biotech and the Chief Technical Officer of Austrianova, and Dr. Brian Salmons, the CEO of Austrianova and a member of the PharmaCyte Biotech Scientific Advisory Board. Prof. Gunzburg and Dr. Salmons are co-developers of the Cell-in-a-Box(R) technology.
Also part of the Consortium is Dr. Constantine Konstantoulas from the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna (VetMed) where many of the initial preclinical studies will be done to develop PharmaCyte Biotech’s diabetes treatment.
The studies with the Melligen cells are already underway at VetMed and are being coordinated by Dr. Konstantoulas.
Other members of the Diabetes Consortium include the outstanding research scientists Prof. Eckhard Wolf and Prof. Rudiger Wanke from the Ludwig-Maximillian University in Munich, Germany.
Both, together with their colleagues at that University, have developed unique animal models for insulin-dependent diabetes. Finally, noted European gastroenterologist and oncologist, Prof. Dr. Matthias Lohr of the renowned Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, will play a major role in overseeing the development of PharmaCyte Biotech’s diabetes treatment.
Prof. Dr. Lohr is an expert in the treatment of diabetes and has extensive experience in the clinic using the Cell-in-a-Box(R) technology because he served as Principal Investigator for the early-phase clinical trials that involved the combination of that technology and the cancer drug ifosfamide. Prof. Lohr is a consultant to PharmaCyte Biotech and serves as the Chairman of PharmaCyte Biotech’s Scientific Advisory Board.
Kenneth L. Waggoner, the Chief Executive Officer of PharmaCyte Biotech, said, "The latest meeting of our international Diabetes Consortium was extremely productive. We are extremely pleased that Dr. Brandtner has assumed a leadership role in the Consortium. Every member of the Consortium is united in the belief that encapsulated human cells that have been reprogrammed to respond to blood sugar levels in a human suffering from diabetes is the way forward to develop a unique and effective treatment for insulin-dependent diabetes.
"Our most recent meeting has resulted in the laser-focused planning of the steps required to be able to reach this goal. The preclinical studies are already underway, and every member of our international Diabetes Consortium is dedicated and focused on developing a novel and effective treatment for diabetes. We are very fortunate to have so many outstanding professionals working in concert to achieve this goal."