{"id":43931,"date":"2016-03-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-03-10T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/documenting-viacytes-stem-cell-diabetes-trial\/"},"modified":"2016-09-14T04:41:33","modified_gmt":"2016-09-14T08:41:33","slug":"documenting-viacytes-stem-cell-diabetes-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/?p=43931","title":{"rendered":"Documenting ViaCyte&#8217;s Stem Cell Diabetes Trial"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Nearly 18 months into a breakthrough stem cell trial for type 1 diabetes, significant positive results are emerging. <a href=\"http:\/\/viacyte.com\">ViaCyte<\/a>, a leader in stem cell therapies for diabetes, is conducting this first human trial of its kind. And a husband\/wife team is producing the first documentary of its kind. They are filming the trial results as they occur.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Almost everyone with type 1 diabetes heard upon their diagnosis, \u201cThere will be a cure in five to ten years.\u201d For me that was forty-four years ago this month. Why do we still not have a cure for diabetes&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<li>Nearly a century after the discovery of insulin?<\/li>\n<li>Given approximately <a href=\"http:\/\/www.diabetes.org\/diabetes-basics\/statistics\/\" target=\"_blank\">1.25 million<\/a> American children and adults have type 1 diabetes? With nearly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.idf.org\/sites\/default\/files\/attachments\/DV_56-SI2.pdf\">80,000<\/a> newly diagnosed young people every year?<\/li>\n<li>With type 1 and type 2 diabetes only rising? 30 million Americans and 415,000,000 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.diabetesatlas.org\">people<\/a> globally suffering with both types of diabetes<\/li>\n<li>Given diabetes will be a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/20171754\">561 billion <\/a>dollar global health expenditure by 2030?<\/li>\n<li>When it\u2019s the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.diabetes.org\/diabetes-basics\/statistics\/\">seventh<\/a> leading cause of death?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Why does a diabetes cure take so long, and should we still be hoping?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Filmmakers Lisa Hepner and Guy Mossman think we should. They also want us to understand what\u2019s involved in cure research and why it\u2019s a laborious and intricate process.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Filming the Trial That May Lead to a Cure<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Hepner and Mossman are the directors of the feature documentary, <a href=\"http:\/\/thehumantrial.com\"><em>The Human Trial<\/em><\/a>. Their crew has exclusive real-time access to a top lab conducting the first human cell encapsulation research trial of its kind.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>The Human Trial<\/em> is following one research team and a handful of trial patients as they move from the lab through the first two years of the Phase 1\/2 clinical trial.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">For Hepner, who has had type 1 diabetes for twenty five years, making this film is personal.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cWhile I\u2019m hoping this trial may be the breakthrough we need for a cure,\u201d Hepner told me, \u201dI also want people with diabetes, particularly type 1 diabetes who are waiting for a cure, not to give up. I\u2019d like them to understand the Herculean efforts behind most cure research and to know that they have good reason to keep hoping.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">At the center of <em>The Human Trial<\/em> is San-Diego based biotech company, ViaCyte Inc. In partnership with the University of California, San Diego and the University of Alberta, ViaCyte has received FDA approval to test only the fourth embryonic stem cell derived product in the world in patients.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Making this even more historic, ViaCyte recently acquired the assets of BetaLogics, a company that for more than a decade has also been working toward a stem cell-derived therapy for diabetes. This brings together the two leaders in cell replacement therapies for diabetes. This brain trust can only further strengthen ViaCyte\u2019s cure-based research.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/ViaCyte-VC-01-A.png\" rel=\"mfp\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-38767\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-38767 lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/asweetlife.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/ViaCyte-VC-01-A.png\" alt=\"ViaCyte-VC-01-A\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>The Trial Science and Encapsulation Device<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Part of the reason the directors are excited about <em>this<\/em> trial is ViaCyte is theoretically growing enough insulin-producing cells &#8211; from a single donated embryo leftover from in vitro fertilization &#8211; to treat every patient on the face of the earth with type 1 diabetes.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">It could also benefit anyone who takes insulin, including those with type 2 diabetes.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The first patient received the <a href=\"http:\/\/viacyte.com\/products\/vc-01-diabetes-therapy\/\">VC-01<\/a> cell implant on October 20, 2014. Thus far, in at least one trial participant, the implanted cells, as hoped for, appear to have developed into insulin-producing beta cells &#8211; after just 12 weeks.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Each of the patients participating in the trial received a less than therapeutic dose of the stem-cell derived therapy. The cells were implanted in their body in two semi-permeable encapsulation pouches. The pouch is about half the size of a credit card.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The pouch allows the body\u2019s nutrients to enter and feed the cells while it protects them from being destroyed by the patient\u2019s immune system. Once matured, the cells are designed to secrete insulin and other hormones necessary to control blood glucose levels. Implantation of these cells in animals has already proved successful in controlling blood sugar. This is the first time it\u2019s being tried in humans.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">(Typically islet cell transplantation requires the recipient to take a lifetime of immune suppressant drugs. One trial goal is to eliminate the need for such drugs.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Typically too, there are not enough cells to harvest, and transplanted cells begin to die within a few years. ViaCyte\u2019s trial, with just one stem cell line, has the capacity to yield an unending amount of insulin-producing beta cells.)<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The primary aim of this first phase of the trial is to test the safety of the cells and their encapsulation device. If the product proves safe, researchers will then seek recommendations to proceed with the therapeutic phase of the trail &#8211; again in people with type 1 diabetes &#8211; to see whether the therapy really can control blood sugar levels.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Grounding Hope In Reality<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">This is the first clinical trial of its kind and <em>The Human Trial<\/em> is the first film to take us backstage into the world of cure research: the formidable obstacles and grinding effort, the complexity of the disease and the science, what it takes to harvest cells, regulatory rules and the<a href=\"http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/matthewherper\/2013\/08\/11\/how-the-staggering-cost-of-inventing-new-drugs-is-shaping-the-future-of-medicine\/#2715e4857a0b10f42fd46bfc\"> $5 billion <\/a>plus it typically takes to bring a drug to market. Hepner doesn\u2019t want people to stop hoping, but to see the reality.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The idea for the film came to the husband\/wife team the morning Hepner woke from a dreadful hypoglycemic event during the night. \u201cIt was so clear to me. Unless you or a loved one has type 1 diabetes, you don\u2019t know how tough and scary it is to live with it. We all look healthy on the outside.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cSo Guy and I brainstormed on how best we could tell the story of diabetes, and we landed on doing a film about the quest to cure it. We wanted to understand why there hasn\u2019t been a cure yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Hepner says, and I agree, funding for a cure for type 1 diabetes suffers from how hidden and misunderstood the condition is from and by the public. \u201cPeople don\u2019t understand the physical, emotional and financial costs of type 1 diabetes,\u201d says Hepner. \u201cPerhaps if we walked around with IV drips visible that give us insulin, instead of blood sugar meters and monitors that keep getting smaller and less visible, there\u2019d be more concern about the disease.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Among the film\u2019s supporters is outreach partner <a href=\"http:\/\/beyondtype1.org\">Beyond Type 1<\/a>. Currently the filmmakers are seeking donations to get <em>The Human Trial<\/em> completed. Once finished, it will be shown at film festivals, private screenings, broadcast and streamed, encouraging far more people to donate toward the cure. \u201cIf more people see what\u2019s involved and how close we are, it will inspire more donations and we\u2019ll get to the cure faster,\u201d says Hepner. \u201cThe cure is in sight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Note:<\/strong> If you&#8217;d like to donate to <em>The Human Trial<\/em> please visit the film\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thehumantrial.com\">website<\/a>. There you can also purchase an OBEY\u00ae Awareness T-shirt featuring Shepard Fairey\u2019s artwork. 100% of the profits support the making of the film.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nearly 18 months into a breakthrough stem cell trial for type 1 diabetes, significant positive results are emerging. ViaCyte, a leader in stem cell therapies for diabetes, is conducting this first human trial of its kind.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":43932,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1432,1445],"tags":[1584],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.9 (Yoast SEO v22.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Documenting ViaCyte&#039;s Stem Cell Diabetes Trial<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Nearly 18 months into a breakthrough stem cell trial for type 1 diabetes, significant positive results are emerging. 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