Century-Old Vaccine Could Potentially Reverse Type 1 Diabetes

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The Food and  Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved mid -stage trial of a vaccine that could potentially reverse type one-diabetes, Reuters reports.

The FDA gave the green light to test the bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine in 150 adults with advanced cases of diabetes, which significantly affects Latinos in the United States.

“In the phase I (preliminary) trial, we demonstrated a statistically significant response to BCG, but our goal in (this trial) is to create a lasting therapeutic response,” Dr. Denise Faustman, director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Immunobiology Laboratory in Boston and principal investigator of the study said in a statement. “We will be working again with people who have had type 1 diabetes for many years. This is not a prevention trial; instead, we are trying to create a regimen that will treat even advanced disease.”

BCG, is a century old vaccine that has been traditionally used for preventing tuberculosis, but more recently it has also been used in the treatment of bladder cancer.

Skeptics of the vaccine are doubtful that it could significantly reverse type one- diabetes.

“I think it’s a stretch to say this would have a huge impact on the millions plus type I diabetes patients in this country,” Robert Sobel, an assistant professor of endocrinology at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, says. “We would love to do something to preserve or repopulate their beta cell mass. Historically, we have watched it dwindle and have not been able to do something (in time).”

If BCG is successful in its mid-trial the next step will be a larger study with a larger pool of patients.