The National Health Research Institute (NHRI) yesterday unveiled a compound for treating diabetes, saying it hoped the new medicine would be available for patients before 2017.
NHRI officials unveiled the compound, known as “DBPR108,” at a press conference yesterday afternoon.
NHRI Division of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Research director Chao Yu-sheng (趙宇生) said that six local pharmaceutical companies would co-manufacture the compound and the Cabinet’s national development fund would support it.
Taipei Veterans General Hospital, meanwhile, will be in charge of the new compound’s trials to prove that it is safe for use by humans. The compound, once approved for use, will become the first “made in Taiwan” drug for diabetes.
PHASE I
“We are now at ‘Phase I’ of the trials of the medicine. There are four phases to the trials before the new compound can be authorized as a qualified diabetes medicine by the Department of Health in the future,” Chao said.
Chao said that trial stages for the treatment would cost approximately NT$200 million (US$6 million) and 85 percent of the cost would be covered by the Cabinet’s national development fund, while the six local pharmaceutical manufacturers would share the rest of the cost.
MORE INSULIN
The new compound, Chao said, would help patients produce more insulin. Patients suffer side effects such as skin ailments from currently available diabetes drugs. However, Chao said that such problems have been countered by the new compound.
Chen Cheng (陳正), the general manager of Genovate Biotechnology (健亞生物科技), one of the six local pharmaceutical manufacturers, said he was very optimistic about the new compound.
“I predict that this new compound will prove very profitable for us after it becomes an available drug for diabetes,” he said.
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday called for greater cooperation between Taiwan, Lithuania and the EU to counter threats to information security, including attacks on undersea cables and other critical infrastructure. In a speech at Vilnius University in the Lithuanian capital, Tsai highlighted recent incidents in which vital undersea cables — essential for cross-border data transmission — were severed in the Taiwan Strait and the Baltic Sea over the past year. Taiwanese authorities suspect Chinese sabotage in the incidents near Taiwan’s waters, while EU leaders have said Russia is the likely culprit behind similar breaches in the Baltic. “Taiwan and our European
Hong Kong singer Eason Chan’s (陳奕迅) concerts in Kaohsiung this weekend have been postponed after he was diagnosed with Covid-19 this morning, the organizer said today. Chan’s “FEAR and DREAMS” concert which was scheduled to be held in the coming three days at the Kaohsiung Arena would be rescheduled to May 29, 30 and 31, while the three shows scheduled over the next weekend, from May 23 to 25, would be held as usual, Universal Music said in a statement. Ticket holders can apply for a full refund or attend the postponed concerts with the same seating, the organizer said. Refund arrangements would
Taiwanese indie band Sunset Rollercoaster and South Korean outfit Hyukoh collectively received the most nominations at this year’s Golden Melody Awards, earning a total of seven nods from the jury on Wednesday. The bands collaborated on their 2024 album AAA, which received nominations for best band, best album producer, best album design and best vocal album recording. “Young Man,” a single from the album, earned nominations for song of the year and best music video, while another track, “Antenna,” also received a best music video nomination. Late Hong Kong-American singer Khalil Fong (方大同) was named the jury award winner for his 2024 album
The Taipei District Court sentenced babysitters Liu Tsai-hsuan (劉彩萱) and Liu Jou-lin (劉若琳) to life and 18 years in prison respectively today for causing the death of a one-year-old boy in December 2023. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said that Liu Tsai-hsuan was entrusted with the care of a one-year-old boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), in August 2023 by the Child Welfare League Foundation. From Sept. 1 to Dec. 23 that year, she and her sister Liu Jou-lin allegedly committed acts of abuse against the boy, who was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries on Dec. 24, 2023, but did not
RSS