Evaluating a new approach in type 1 diabetes

If you've just been diagnosed (within the past 90 days) with type 1 diabetes, consider enrolling in DEFEND-2.

DEFEND-2 (Durable-response therapy Evaluation For Early or New-onset type 1 Diabetes) is a phase 3 clinical study evaluating an investigational agent called otelixizumab (oh' te lix iz' oo mab). Otelixizumab is now being tested to see if it can reduce the destruction of beta cells in people with type 1 diabetes.

In type 1 diabetes, beta cells—the cells in the pancreas that make insulin—are destroyed by the body's immune system. If this destruction could be slowed or stopped, people with type 1 diabetes could continue to make some of their own insulin. This would result in better control of blood sugar levels and there would likely be fewer long-term complications of diabetes, such as eye, kidney, and heart disease.