Dimerix (ASX:DXB), a diabetes-focused biotech company, has signed a clinical trial agreement with the Australian Centre for Accelerating Diabetes Innovations (ACADI) to test its oral medicinal product DMX-200 in diabetic kidney disease patients.
In addition to the company’s previous Phase 3 trials, this particular trial revealed a possible commercial opportunity. The clinical trial methodology is still being completed but, according to Dimerix, it will be a 12 to 24 month evaluation of proteinuria and eGFR (kidney function) in diabetic kidney disease patients with an interim analysis. The trial is set to begin in the 4th quarter of 2022.
ACADI is a group funded by money from the Translation Research Accelerator Program. These funds were also supplied by partner organization MTPConnect, with which Dimerix has signed an agreement for DMX-200 diabetic trials in Australia. The treatment of diabetic kidney disease is a top priority for ACADI, which picked DMX-200 for future trials based on the positive results of a 2020 research.
According to Dimerix, the trial, which is set to begin today as a result of the agreement, will be ready by the end of the year and will last for up to two years, with an interim analysis to be provided shortly.
The company’s DMX-200 medication inhibits a molecule in the body called the chemokine receptor CCR2. This receptor is crucial as it recruits inflammatory cells to the kidneys. Every day, patients are given two 120mg dosages.
The FDA recently granted DMX-200 the much-desired Investigational Novel Drug (IND) classification, which allows companies testing new medicines to move quickly through the FDA approvals process.
Diabetes is expected to grow increasingly frequently in the future.
Dimerix will collaborate with the University of Melbourne’s ACADI associate professor Elif Ekinci, who worked on the original 2020 project. Dimerix is focusing on diabetic products due to the fact that statistics suggest that diabetes incidence would increase by 54 percent by 2040, based on current prevalence rates.
The effects of the aging (US) population, rising obesity rates, and the increased incidence of diabetes in younger age groups are the main drivers of this upward prognosis. Diabetic kidney disease has no recognized cure at this time.
Featured Image: Megapixl © bialasiewicz
