Islet Sciences’ recently acquired diabetes therapeutics subsidiary, DiaKine Therapeutics, received two separate grants totalling $2.1 million, from the NIH and Iacocca Foundation. $1,831,250 has been awarded by NIH, and another $250,000 from the Iacocca Foundation, an organization focused on funding diabetes research and drug development.
In January the firm acquired development-stage DiaKine is a start-up biotech developing immune modulators as treatments for diabetes and related complications. Lead candidate, Lisofylline, is a clinical development-stage compound designed to improve the function of insulin-producing islet cells and protect them from damage and premature death resulting from autoimmune attack in type 1 diabetes.
Islet itself is focused on the development of cell transplantation therapy for treating type 1 diabetes. The firm’s initial product, Islet Sciences-P™, is a suspension of microencapsulated porcine islets designed for injection into the abdominal cavity.