Kamada Ltd. (TASE: KMDA) today announced that it has begun a Phase I/II clinical trial of its intravenous AAT drug for the treatment of Type 1 (juvenile) diabetes. Intravenous AAT is marketed in the US for the treatment of congenital emphysema and other respiratory diseases, where sales amount to tens of millions of dollars a year.
The Israeli Ministry of Health has approved the trial protocol to test the safety profile and efficacy of the drug for this indication. The trial will be conducted at two Israeli medical centers by Contract Research Organization under an agreement with Kamada.
According to the Israel Diabetes Association, there are 50,000 juvenile diabetics in Israel, and 200 new cases are diagnosed annually.
Kamada CEO David Tsur said, "Scientific studies on the subject as the quality of preclinical trial results to date are very encouraging. Kamada intends to publish an interim report on the trial in early 2012 and the final report later in 2012."
Kamada's share price fell 2% in morning trading to NIS 26.75, giving a market cap of NIS 853 million.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on June 12, 2011
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2011