Diabetes
Research
Unlocking biomarkers, protecting β-cells, and advancing diabetes therapies
Beta Cell Protection
Diabetes is a devastating disease that occurs when the islets of the pancreas do not produce enough insulin or when the body cannot effectively use the insulin it produces. As a consequence, diabetic patients lose the ability to regulate their own blood glucose and suffer from chronic hyperglycemia (high glucose levels in the blood) which in turn can lead to multi-organ damage. Diabetes is by nature a very heterogenous disease, where multiple factors, inherited and acquired, contribute to the onset of the disease, which makes generalizable disease mechanisms very difficult to identify or even unlikely to exist.
In Type-1-Diabetes (T1D) the insulin-producing β-islet cells of the pancreas are destroyed by the patient’s own immune cells. Insulin therapy is associated with substantial burden with people living with diabetes. Although T cells have been identified as the alleged perpetrators, the root cause of T1D is still unknown. Are there intrinsic factors that lead to β-cell destruction in which the β-cells themselves are responsible for their own demise or are there extrinsic factors which trigger T1D disease progression?
Type-2-Diabetes (T2D) on the other hand is caused by an acquired resistance of various tissues (liver, skeletal muscles or adipocytes) to insulin thereby leading to hyperglycemia, hypertension, and dyslipidemia. T2D is one manifestation of the broader metabolic syndrome (MS) and is often accompanied by pre-obesity resulting in a compensatory increase in beta-cell insulin production and hyperinsulinemia in the short term. Yet, over time T2D similarly to T1D can manifest in a progressive loss of insulin secretion and β-cell exhaustion.
We at CBmed want to identify and repurpose drugs that alleviate cellular stress and ultimately lead to β-cell protection. For that, we deploy state-of-the-art in vitro and in vivo models to elucidate the interplay between β-cell stress and immune cell attraction in the pursuit of a potential cure for diabetes. Our approach will circumvent long drug discovery timelines and will have an imminent effect of patient care as the identified drugs are already approved and safe for use in humans.
Next Generation Stem Cell Platform
The long sought ‘holy grail’ of disease modelling and cell therapy, generating tissue from each individual patient has long been considered unsustainable or even impossible. Yet, as we see new technologies converge, we at CBmed believe now is the time to invest into the buildup of a comprehensive, autologous approach for advanced disease modelling and replacement therapy using patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs).
- Patient-centred, autologous
- Comprehensive cohort of hundreds of diabetic patients
- Blood cells from diabetic patients
- Patient-derived stem cell islets
- Precision Medicine
- Non-viral transductions
- No specialized instruments, personnel, labs or equipment needed
- Democratizing stem cell technologies
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the rationale for not using allogeneic disease models?
Allogeneic, one-size-fits-all approaches struggle to recapitulate the complex, heterogenous nature of diabetes and thus leads to ineffective drug treatment regimens and risks graft rejection in beta cell replacement therapy. Those models do not account for contributing factors that a patient acquires over the course of a lifetime. With our approach we seek to answer the fundamental question if disease mechanisms are conserved in patient blood cells and if that could be leveraged for advanced disease modelling or cell therapy.
Are autologous, patient-derived disease models sustainable?
Yes, we believe that automation, barcoding, multiplexing and the increased power of compute will allow us to overcome major hurdles in autologous approaches, will streamline processes and minimize costs to such an extent, that patient-centred approaches are sustainable and will prevail as the gold standard in the near future.
What if stem cell islets from patients do not recapitulate disease mechanisms?
We would pivot into beta cell replacement therapy using our access to state-of-the-art GMP facilities. If disease mechanisms are not conserved, those stem cell islets come with the prospect of immunosuppressant free cell therapies even beyond the scope of diabetes.
Do you need viruses or specialized equipment for reprogramming blood cells into induced pluripotent stem cells?
No, we do not use viruses for transduction, instead we use state-of-the-art non-viral transduction techniques that don’t require specialized equipment. Every standard laboratory can perform these methods.