When treating diabetes, today's doctors focus on establishing blood glucose control, but often overlook the need to protect against common diabetic complications such as blindness, kidney damage, and nerve damage. The DCCT, even with a comprehensive treatment program, had a complication rate of approximately 40% of participants.

People who do not have diabetes make insulin with C-peptide. Those of us diabetics who inject synthetic insulin do not get the C-peptide. When scientists began developing insulin - they weeded out the pieces of the amino acid chain they felt were insignificant in lowering blood glucose. Synthetic insulin was designed to reduce the dangerous buildup of excess sugar in the bloodstream. Uh oh - hindsight is surprisingly clear! The long-term complications were initially thought to be caused by lack of insulin - not lack of something that should've been in it. It would make sense if insulin came equipped with this critically important element, wouldn't it?

Tada! C-peptide is the connecting peptide found on the amino acid chain of naturally produced insulin, but left on the cutting room floor in the lab. Studies have shown that C-peptide prevents the development and progression of many diabetic complications and was shown to improve glucose metabolism up to 66%.

Regardless of the potential profit decay C-peptide might cause the production of insulin - the bottom line is the salvation it will provide every man, woman, and child injecting insulin. If you're taking insulin injections, chances are you won't stop taking insulin because you're adding C-peptide to your daily lineup. Chances are - you'll be around a lot longer, and a lot healthier because you do not have the complications most often associated with long-term diabetes.

Wouldn't that be reason enough for you to celebrate the company that brings C-peptide to the drugstore nearest you? Consumer loyalty goes a long way. For those companies who knew a long time ago how beneficial C-peptide would be but didn't do a thing about it - is it really the 33% loss in insulin sales you didn't want to encounter? C'mon. We can handle the truth.

Diamyd Medical's flagship drug, Diamyd, is showing promising results in reducing the need of insulin injections and preventing the destruction of beta cells.

Diamyd has demonstrated significant efficacy in preserving insulin production in 70 children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes. No serious adverse events associated with the therapy were observed. The results from the Diamyd study demonstrate that the group of 35 recently diagnosed type 1 diabetes patients that received Diamyd produced approximately twice as much meal stimulated insulin (as measured by C-peptide) 15 months after the first treatment as compared to the placebo group. Preserving insulin-production is crucial for delaying the complications associated with long-term diabetes which cost billions of dollars to treat. Furthermore, it may allow for regeneration of beta cells in a non-autoimmune environment, thus setting the stage for a cure of the disease.

"We look forward to opening the dialog with the FDA regarding the potential initiation of our clinical program for Diamyd in the US" says Anders Essen-Möller, CEO of Diamyd Medical. "We obviously cannot predict the outcome of any meeting with the regulatory authorities, but we hope we will gain some valuable guidance towards structuring a suitable US clinical program for the continued development of Diamyd as a therapy for type 1 diabetes." Anders-you let me know if the regulatory authorities give you any funny business. I'll see what the diabetic community has to say about it. The buck stops here!