At the 15th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society for Regenerative Medicine, a representative of Otsuka Pharmaceutical reported on the state of development on DIABECELL xenografts developed by the companies New Zealand joint venture Diatranz Otsuka Ltd. For this approach, islet cells from SPF-bred newborn piglets are embedded in alginate PLO capsules and transplanted into the abdominal cavity of patients. Whereas in several clinical studies with diabetes type 1 patients it was shown that severe hypoglycemia could be prevented, there were also cases of severe adverse reactions. The company will continue R&D on this approach.
Otsuka news release, Oct. 10, 2014; Nikkei Biotech news release, March 18, 2016
Otsuka Pharmaceutical reports progress on xenograft transplants for diabetes treatment (DIABECELL)