Mayo Clinic declares war on diabetes

ROCHESTER, MINNESOTA — The Mayo Clinic will soon debut a major, comprehensive strategy to combat diabetes, sources say.

Details are vague but Mayo officials have told local biotech officials that a big initiative is in the works, which could include research, education, outreach, ways to speed technology transfer, or all of the above.

Already, the pieces are falling into place. Mayo, in partnership with McGill University, recently launched a Phase II clinical trial of a promising Type I diabetes drug developed by Exsulin Corp. of Burnsville.

As many as 3 million people in the United States live with Type 1 diabetes, in which the immune system attacks islet cells in the pancreas, destroying the body’s ability to produce insulin. Exsulin’s technology focuses on certain proteins that can instruct progenitor cells — basic pancreatic cells that exhibit stem-cell-like behavior — to form insulin-producing islet cells.

The nine month trial, the only Phase II study in the United States focusing on regenerating insulin cells, will eventually enroll 27 patients.

In addition, the state is close to awarding a major research grant to the Minnesota Partnership for Biotechnology and Medical Genomics. The partnership, a collaboration between the University of Minnesota and Mayo Clinic, will seek to identify genetic biomarkers from specimens provided by Exsulin.

In 2008, Best Buy Co. Inc. founder Richard Schulze announced a $40 million gift to the university to help find a cure for Type 1 diabetes. The school was the first to perform an islet cell transplant in 1974.

Since 2000, the university has transplanted islet cells into 26 Type 1 diabetes patients. Five years later, about half of them no longer need insulin injections.