Possible New Therapy to Replenish Betacells Without Stemcells
A biopharmaceutical company developing new therapies that prevent,
ameliorate, or reverse both type 1 and 2 diabetes, announces its
achievement of a major drug development milestone for Human proIslet
Peptide(HIP).

CureDM has successfully stabilized HIP to improve its bioavailability
with recent dose response studies indicating that the dosage used in man
may be as much as 100-fold lower than the native form. HIP is a 14-amino
acid human peptide derived from a specific human gene responsible for
populating the pancreas with islets, which contain the cells that
secrete insulin and other hormones necessary to prevent diabetes.

"Meeting this milestone has a significant impact on the commercial value
of Human proIslet Peptide," according to Loraine V. Upham, CEO. "Not
only does this mean lower costs associated with the manufacture and
commercialization, but also potentially better safety and tolerability
outcomes in human trials." CureDM has filed with the FDA and anticipates
approval for commencement of human studies in early 2009.

Further studies are underway to determine just how low of a dose is
possible.  Previous studies have confirmed that the stabilization of HIP
did not adversely affect the efficacy and demonstrated that normal
glucose levels were achieved after 25 days of treatment and remained
normal after the therapy was stopped.

Human proIslet Peptide (HIP) stimulates the differentiation of
pancreatic progenitor cells, which are present in the adult pancreas,
into new insulin-producing islets. Each new islet contains pools of beta
cells which make insulin.  It is hypothesized that treatment with this
therapeutic will restore human pancreatic function without the use of
stem cells.

The CureDM approach to restore new insulin-producing cells through islet
neogenesis can potentially reverse both type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
Patients with type 1 diabetes will require pretreatment with an immune
tolerance agent to protect new islets formed by HIP.

CureDM, Inc., located at the Lankenau Institute for Medical Research on
the Lankenau Hospital campus in Wynnewood, PA, is developing peptide
therapeutics using a platform that combines bioinformatics, proteomics
and Human Genome sequence data.  This method has enabled the CureDM
mechanisms of islet neogenesis in humans.