Cellonis' stem cells diabetes treatment helps reconstruct natural insulin production

Jun 24 2010

Cellonis, a Beijing and HK-based biotech company, with its new personalized diabetes treatment concept has demonstrated an amazing improvement in their treated patients' conditions. The ongoing clinical study shows the treatment's best case could reconstruct a patient's natural insulin production and even reverse later complications like kidney failure. Treated patients may have the chance to return to the normal activities non-diabetes sufferers take for granted.

The clinical study, jointly conducted by scientists and doctors of the Cellonis clinical research team, aims to help patients be free from insulin and oral drugs, by reconstructing their natural insulin production damaged by either autoimmune disorder (T1DM) or hyperglycemia and also improve insulin sensitivity (T2DM). Using injections of autologous stem cells from the patient's bone marrow, the research team believes that this therapy could help patients return to a life without annoying everyday injections and drugs.

"Most of the patients in our clinical study are now taking less synthetic insulin or oral drugs for BG control," says Dr. Chase Dai, Chief Medical Officer at Cellonis. "We appear to have restored the biological insulin producing function of the body. We are excited to see that some patients have been treatment-free for five months now, and we believe the effect of the stem cell therapy can last much longer. We were also encouraged by some other happy surprises during the clinical study.

"For example, this therapy appears to reverse chronic kidney failure. It was a surprise for all of my team to observe that the kidney function of a 75- year-old patient improved remarkably."

This patient had suffered from diabetes for years, gradually developing diabetic foot and nephropathy. He can now walk freely after having been confined to bed or a wheelchair for six months, and his quality of life has improved significantly. Moreover, he only needs kidney dialysis one time a week instead of three times. In a follow-up visit he excitedly told us that he was hopeful that in the near future he could be completely rid of diabetes.

Diabetes, an increasingly spreading disease, can lead to life-threatening diseases such as blindness, amputation, strokes, or kidney failure in its natural course. Current treatments, including insulin, cannot change this situation.

"We believe that our stem cell therapy will bring promising hope for patients suffering from diabetes and its complications," comments Cindy Hao, CEO of Cellonis. "Personalized diabetes therapies for patients of various conditions will be developed by Cellonis in the near future. We believe what we have restored for patients will not only be their natural insulin production, but also a normal life filled with the activities non-diabetes sufferers can enjoy daily."