Children at risk of contracting juvenile diabetes may soon be vaccinated against the disease by administering insulin through a nasal spray device if a Melbourne based clinical trial proves successful.
The Commonwealth Government, through the National Health and Medical Research Council has committed $5 million to the Intranasal Insulin Clinical Trial. The vaccine has been developed by the Diabetes Vaccine Development Centre at the University of Melbourne in partnership with the New York based Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.
Three hundred children and young adults that have been assessed to be at high risk of developing Type 1 diabetes will be part of the trial. These participants will be identified by screening over 13,000 people aged between four and thirty who have a blood relative suffering from Type 1 diabetes.
Children and young adults participating in the trial will self administer the intranasal spray every day for one week, and then every week for a year while attending regular hospital visits over a four year period to determine if the onset of diabetes has been delayed or prevented.
The National Health Survey reports that around 13,000 people under the age of twenty-five are living with juvenile diabetes.
The Commonwealth Government has quadrupled health and medical research funding since 1996, this year committing over $500 million to health and medical research grants. Over $30.7 million was allocated through the National Health and Medical Research Council last year for diabetes related research.
| Media contacts: | Kristy McSweeney | Tony Abbott’s Office | 0415 740 722 |
| Monique Mahoney | NHMRC | (02) 6217 9342 |