Dr. Richard Liggins, Chief Scientific Officer, presenting at EASD in Barcelona.
TORONTO, Canada and BARCELONA, Spain: Zucara Therapeutics Inc., a life sciences company developing the first once-daily therapeutic to prevent hypoglycemia in people with Type 1 diabetes and other types of insulin-dependent diabetes, presented new findings today at the 55th Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes on September 16-20, 2019 in Barcelona.
The company recently undertook research to determine interest among people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes taking insulin in adding a new drug therapy to prevent nocturnal hypoglycemia; the results of which were presented during the conference’s Poster Event earlier today.
Hypoglycemia is a well-documented problem for people with diabetes taking insulin. Continuous glucose monitor (CGM) technologies are increasingly used by insulin users, and are believed to be of great support to patients in reacting to impending hypoglycemia by alerting the patient to falling glucose levels. Despite this benefit, CGM users have mixed feelings about alerts of hypoglycemia, especially at night.
With an aim to evaluate patient perceptions of the unmet needs in hypoglycemia prevention; 637 Type 1 and 2 diabetes (T1D & T2D) insulin users (including 57 parents of T1D children) were surveyed to characterize perceptions of hypoglycemia, satisfaction in managing hypoglycemia and interest in using a drug to prevent nocturnal hypoglycemia (NH). T1D respondents were also asked about their usage of devices (CGM, insulin pump).
The research concluded that avoiding waking up at night due to NH was the most important unmet need across all respondents; and that a drug that would prevent NH was of high interest among respondents – and CGM users had the highest likelihood to use such a drug. Zucara is developing, ZT-01, that if approved, would be taken at bedtime to prevent NH and provide a safety net for those on insulin by preventing disruptive and dangerous glucose lows. The company plans to start a Phase 1 clinical trial in early 2020.
Dr. Richard Liggins, Zucara’s Chief Scientific Officer, in presenting the research said, “Clearly, there is a tremendous need to alleviate the fear and anxiety that comes along with hypoglycemia in diabetes along with the challenges it creates for patients, including disruptions to sleep. We are extremely encouraged by the results of this work that validates our approach in developing a drug to prevent nocturnal hypoglycemia.”
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About Zucara Therapeutics Inc.
Zucara is developing the first drug therapy to prevent hypoglycemia in people with diabetes. The Company’s first-in-class therapeutic is aimed at inhibiting a hormone in the pancreas called somatostatin, which does not function properly in diabetes. Preventing hypoglycemia will dramatically change diabetes disease management, improving both patient health and quality of life. Zucara Therapeutics is a spin-off of AdMare BioInnovations and TIAP based on technology that originated at the University of Toronto. www.zucara.ca
For additional information, please contact:
Julia White
Senior Manager, Communications
Email: media@zucara.ca
Direct: 604.827.1226