'We kept at it': Jeffrey Bluestone plots late-stage comeback after teplizumab shown to delay type 1 diabetes
Late-stage data presented at the American Diabetes Association annual meeting in 2010 pushed Eli Lilly to put a crimp on teplizumab as the pharma giant found it unable to reset the clock on newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes. At the same conference but in different hands nine years later, the drug is making a critical comeback by scoring success in another niche: delaying the onset of the disease.
In a Phase II trial with 76 high-risk individuals — relatives of patients with type 1 diabetes who have diabetes-related autoantibodies in their bodies — teplizumab almost doubled the median time of diagnosis compared to placebo (48.4 months versus 24.4 months). The hazard ratio for diagnosis was 0.41 (p=0.006).
Unlock this article instantly by becoming a free subscriber.
You’ll get access to free articles each month, plus you can customize what newsletters get delivered to your inbox each week, including breaking news.