How experimental diabetes drug could change treatment

The biggest breakthrough in diabetes research in more than 40 years is set to revolutionise treatment for people with the lifelong disease.

A new class of drugs that researchers say target the underlying cause of type II diabetes are a step closer, in a move scientists hope could revolutionise treatment for the lifelong disease.

Monash University worked with an international team led by France’s National Institute of Health and Medical Research to develop a drug that reboots how fat cells use insulin and could one day be delivered by a patch.

Their research, published in the journal Diabetes earlier this year, found the drug called PATAS reduced insulin resistance and glucose intolerance in mice.

Monash University diabetes professor and co-author Paul Zimmet, who was 2018’s Senior Victorian of the Year for his contribution to diabetes research, said this was potentially one of the most important discoveries he has seen in 45 years.

“This is a very exciting discovery that could have enormous health benefits, not just for people with type II diabetes, but also for patients with other chronic medical disorders caused by insulin resistance,” he said.

“Current drugs for type II diabetes mainly focus on lowering the high blood sugar level rather than targeting the insulin resistance, the underlying cause.”

Professor Paul Zimmet, coauthor, is excited by the discovery.

Type II diabetics struggle to keep their blood sugar within safe levels because their body does not produce insulin, or their body’s cells develop a resistance to it.

Insulin resistance in fat cells is a precursor to type II diabetes.

Professor Zimmet said this study has, for the first time, identified the “root cause” of insulin resistance in fat cells — an abnormality where specific proteins “block” insulin — and developed a drug to address this.

“For the last 20, 30, 40 years everyone has said ‘people who are overweight get diabetes because they have got insulin resistance’ but we didn’t understand actually why they were insulin resistant,” he said.

“We gave a label, insulin resistance, without even understanding how it was happening.

“Some exciting discoveries are just pure luck . . . this has been very hard work over 15 years to come up with a solution . . . to actually get to this point where they’re looking at clinical trials.”

He said the work, led by French researcher Dr Vincent Marion, stemmed from the team’s previous research into a rare genetic disorder associated with type II diabetes, which found a link between insulin resistance and a type of protein.

AdipoPharma, a drug company established by Dr Marion to develop the drug for the market, hopes to begin human trials next year.

Professor Zimmet advises the company but said he is not paid for this work, so as to remain independent.

“It was too good to be true, so they actually approached me because I’ve been in the area of diabetes and metabolic syndrome for quite a while,” he said.

“I was very excited when I heard the details.”