Collaborators will carry out clinical trials to assess benefits of single injection and identify optimum drug ratios.

Amylin Pharmaceuticals and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) inked a research collaboration to fund a series of clinical studies evaluating the potential to co-formulate Amylin’s injectable pramlintide drug Symlin® with insulin for the treatment of type 1 diabetes.

Symlin is an analogue of the human hormone amylin and is approved for use as an adjunct to mealtime insulin therapy in patients who can’t achieve desired glucose control using optimum insulin. However, at present the two drugs need to be administered as separate injections and can’t be mixed.

The collaboration between JDRF and Amylin will involve up to three clinical proof-of-concept trials to evaluate whether a fixed ratio of pramlintide and insulin can effectively control glucose levels and identify the optimal dose ratios. JDRF and Amylin point out that in addition to simplifying treatment, a single injection combining pramlintide and insulin may better mimic the natural physiology of the pancreas.

The two organizations have a separate, ongoing collaboration to carry out a proof-of-concept study evaluating the human leptin analog metreleptin in patients with type 1 diabetes.

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