The first trial patient, a 26-year-old Russian man, did not exhibit any negative effects after he received his first dose on June. Even if his daily insulin shots were slowly reduced to about 40 percent over the past four months, his blood glucose was at tolerable levels.
The second patient, a 40-year-old Russian woman, got her first injection of DiabeCell on September and had daily reduced doses afterward.
Scientists from Living Cell Technologies, an Auckland based research center, observed no adverse effects and better control of her blood sugar level. Her sugar level continued to be at low levels even if she stopped insulin shots after one month.
LCT had began experimenting on DiabeCell in 1996, but stopped over concerns humans could catch virus from pig body parts. The firm is waiting approval from Health Minister Pete Hodgson, but has secured clearance from regulatory offices to conduct the clinical trial at South Auckland's Middlemore Hospital.
