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July 13, 2018
For Hodalis Gaytan, 20, living with type 1 diabetes means depending on an badortment of expensive drugs and devices to stay healthy. Reactive strips. Needles A glucose meter.
The rising cost of type 1 diabetes, one of the most common serious chronic diseases, has created heavy financial burdens for families and sparked controversy, with insulin prices having more than just doubled over the last decade. "I would not be alive," said Gaytan, a student at the University of Maryland.
The burden of treatment is why a promising small study for a simpler and cheaper alternative treatment of type 1 diabetes with hope – but also with caution and skepticism.
The research, published June 21 in the journal Nature Partner Journal Vaccines, showed that an old generic vaccine can help reduce the blood sugar levels of patients with type 1 diabetes for the # 1 diabetes. 39; insulin. The BCG vaccine is used in a number of countries to prevent TB and it has long been recognized that it also boosts the immune system. This vaccine is relatively cheap and costs about $ 157 per dose in the United States, according to the health care technology company, Connecture.
In the study, participants with type 1 diabetes received two doses of Bacillus Calmette-Guerin. Tuberculosis vaccine – known as BCG – at four weeks apart. Three of the patients were observed for eight years. Nine participants were followed for five years
The blood sugar levels – known as A1c – of those followed for eight years fell by more than 10% three years after injection and were maintained for five years. Dr. Denise Faustman, director of the Mbadachusetts General Hospital Laboratory of Immunobiology, is conducting a much larger phase 2 trial of BCG to treat diabetes to see if the results are good. 1965/003] JDRF, a major non-profit organization that subsidizes type 1 diabetes research, and the American Diabetes Association issued a joint statement shortly after the publication of the new study, warning against a misinterpretation of results. evidence to support any recommended treatment changes at this time. "The two groups have established partnerships with drug manufacturers and device manufacturers."
Dr. Camillo Ricordi, Director of the Diabetes Research Institute at the University of Miami, says, however, "cautiously optimistic "about results – incredibly high price" for patients with diabetes. But he cautioned against generating "too much hype" among families before the treatment proves its effectiveness.
Joseph Bellanti, professor emeritus of pediatrics and microbiology and immunology at the Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, DC, was also encouraged by the results of the studies. While acknowledging the skepticism surrounding Faustman's research, the review is a necessary part of the scientific process, he said.
"We are searching for the truth, and we want to make sure that the results and interpretations are correct."
Faustman said his findings are important because they suggest that the vaccine may have positive effects in the treatment of malaria. diabetes, similar to what has been seen in previous research on other autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, which involves a reaction of the immune system against normal tissue.
"This also opens up a a host of new possible treatment pathways, "added Faustman, adding that this could help develop interventions for other groups with chronic diseases.] Type 1 diabetes, which is usually diagnosed in the elderly. child, occurs when the immune system destroys the insulin-producing cells.These results appear as the country struggles with the surge of Insulin prices – an increase so large that it has spurred the Attorneys General of several states and at least one federal prosecutor to launch targeted insulin surveys. Eli Lilly insulin manufacturers, Novo Nordisk, Sanofi and pharmaceutical benefit managers.
The United States is already paying a high price for its diabetes burden. According to the American Diabetes Association, the 24.7 million Americans diagnosed last year spent $ 237 billion in direct medical expenses.
For patients like Gaytan, the prospect of new drugs to simplify and reduce the costs of its treatment is tempting. She injects insulin and checks her blood sugar level about five times a day. And she attends therapy to help cope with the burden of living with a chronic illness, and is worried about how she will afford it in the future.
"I know that diabetic families [whose] pay for everything." According to Connecture, the selling price of Apidra SoloStar – an injectable injectable product that Gaytan uses several times a day – has risen from $ 33.24 by pen in early 2009 at $ 104.28 per pen in early 2009. 2018.
Faustman says his research has documented the mechanism by which the old vaccine reduces blood sugar levels. Phase 2 trial, it will try to replicate its results by tracking 150 participants in the disease for five years In the end, if BCG works to treat type 1 diabetes, its current price could rise, said Gerard Anderson , professor of health policy and management and medicine at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, who, like Kaiser Health News, receives money from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. generic, pharmaceutical companies can increase the price by modifying the drug and issuing a new patent.
Drug manufacturers are experts in retooling old medicines to treat new diseases.
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