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New Diabetes, Obesity Drug: Indian-American's Promising Research
WASHINGTON: Two researchers at Indiana University, including an Indian-American, are leading the way towards developing a new potential non-insulin drug for diabetes and obesity, which needs to be taken only once a week.
Dr. Arnab De, who has a PhD from Columbia University, and Prof. Richard DiMarchi of Indiana University have worked on developing a pro-drug or an inactive substance that is converted to a drug within the body, to stabilise a sugar reducing peptide hormone called GLP1.
Indiana University Research and Technology Corporation (IURTC) have applied for international patents for these pro-drugs and they are currently being licensed to leading biotech/pharmaceutical companies for optimisation, De told IANS on phone from New York.
But it may take five years or so before the new drug hits the market after optimisation and clinical trials, said De who was one of the winners of 2009 Young Investigators' Poster Competition by the American Peptide Society.
Talking about his research, De said: "Patients often have to take an insulin injection after every meal. An overdose of insulin may drastically reduce blood glucose leading to life-threatening diabetic coma."
"Hence we wanted to develop a non-insulin drug, which would hopefully act for a prolonged period of time so that patients do not need to take it every day," he said.
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Source: IANS
