- Abvance is developing ABV100, a proprietary, clinically validated combination of insulin and glucagon with a goal of improving glycemic control while reducing hypoglycemia for people with diabetes who require rapid acting insulin
- ABV100 has the potential to extend the therapeutic window of insulin by adding the clinical benefits of glucagon in a single formulation
- Abvance will host a key opinion leader virtual event on the promise of its transformative insulin-glucagon combination and its product pipeline on September 26, 2024
NEW YORK, Sept. 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Abvance Therapeutics (“Abvance” or “The Company”), a development stage biopharmaceutical company founded on breakthrough discoveries from the Vanderbilt University Cherrington Lab, today announced that it has secured a $3.9 million Program Related Investment in the form of a loan from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust. The funding is non-dilutive and will support the pre-clinical development of ABV100, the Company’s initial proprietary insulin-glucagon combination candidate.
The risk of hypoglycemia, or low blood glucose, is an ever-present challenge for the insulin-treated across all geographies, including the nearly 10 million people across the USA and the EU/UK alone. Despite advances in diabetes technology, hypoglycemia occurs frequently and can be serious, resulting in seizure, coma, and death. The cost of direct medical treatment for severe hypoglycemia remains significant, as do the indirect costs of lost productivity for affected individuals. Fear of hypoglycemia commonly results in patients underdosing insulin, causing their blood glucose to run dangerously high. This is reflected in large patient data sets that consistently report only 1 in 4 patients who require insulin are currently at glycemic target levels set by the American Diabetes Association and American Association of Clinical Endocrinology. Glucagon, in contrast to insulin, is used to treat hypoglycemia and raises blood sugar levels.
Abvance is developing ABV100, a proprietary rapid-acting insulin and glucagon combination that offers the potential to reduce rates of hypoglycemia while simultaneously allowing patients and their healthcare providers to pursue tighter glycemic control. The Company’s vision is that ABV100, as well as other solutions in its pipeline will one day offer a wider therapeutic window than with insulin alone.
“There is an increasing appreciation of the complex relationship that exists between insulin and glucagon, and this offers innovative treatment potential,” stated Alan Cherrington, co-founder of Abvance Therapeutics and Professor of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics at Vanderbilt University. “We demonstrated that, at certain plasma concentrations, the two peptides work in a glucose dependent manner where insulin dominates glucagon when plasma glucose rises, and the converse occurs when plasma glucose falls. These findings informed the conduct of a human proof of concept study in subjects with type 1 diabetes where the concept held true,” Dr. Cherrington added.
“Abvance is pleased to receive significant support from the Helmsley Charitable Trust. It will help our team advance the development of ABV100,” stated David Maggs, MD co-founder and CEO of Abvance Therapeutics. “ABV100 has the potential to replicate the attributes of a glucose- responsive insulin, increasing the insulin therapeutic window and reducing the risk of hypoglycemia, while also offering the benefit of additional favorable glucagon effects,” Dr. Maggs added.
“Given the risk of serious complications, the fear of hypoglycemia is one of the biggest burdens for people with insulin-requiring diabetes and their loved ones. At Helmsley we are committed to finding solutions to allow people to avoid hypoglycemia,” said Sean Sullivan, Program Officer for the Type 1 Diabetes Program at Helmsley. “We are excited to support Abvance Therapeutics to help them bring this novel treatment concept one step closer to the type 1 community,” Dr. Sullivan added.
Abvance Therapeutics will host a key opinion leader (KOL) event on the promise of ABV100 in the treatment of people with insulin-requiring diabetes on September 26, 2024 at 10:00AM Eastern.
The event, moderated by the Managing Director of the T1D Fund, Katie Ellias, will feature an overview of Abvance in a discussion with panel of distinguished KOLs, and a question-and-answer period. KOL and Abvance corporate participants for the September 26 event will be:
Dr. David Maggs, co-founder and CEO of Abvance Therapeutics
Dr. Carol Wysham, former President of the Endocrine Society and is a practicing clinical endocrinologist at MultiCare Rockwood Clinic
Dr. Steven Smith, Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of AdventHealth
Dr. Sean Sullivan is a Program Officer for the Helmsley Charitable Trust’s Type 1 Diabetes Program’s Better Drugs and Devices Portfolio. Dr. Sullivan has a PhD in Biomedical Engineering and was previously an R&D Engineer at BD-Diabetes Care.
The Abvance Therapeutics KOL Virtual Event Details are as follows:
- September 26, 2024, at 10:00AM Eastern
- Event registration at: https://lifescievents.com/event/abvance/
- A replay of the Event will be available on the company’s website at https://abvancetherapeutics.com/
About Abvance Therapeutics
Abvance Therapeutics is a development stage biopharmaceutical company founded on breakthrough discoveries from the Vanderbilt University Cherrington Lab. The Company’s lead program, a proprietary insulin and glucagon combination, promises to reduce hypoglycemia, fundamentally improving glycemic control and quality of life for people who require rapid acting insulin. For more information, visit https://abvancetherapeutics.com.
About The Helmsley Charitable Trust
The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust aspires to improve lives by supporting exceptional efforts in the U.S. and around the world in health and select place-based initiatives. Since beginning active grantmaking in 2008, Helmsley has committed $4.5 billion for a wide range of charitable purposes. The Helmsley Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) Program is the largest private foundation funder in the world with a focus on T1D, with more than $1 billion to date committed to transform the trajectory of the disease and to accelerate access to 21st century care, everywhere. For more information on Helmsley and its programs, visit helmsleytrust.org.
For additional information, please contact:
David Maggs
Chief Executive Officer
david@abvancetherapeutics.com
Steve Daly
Chief Operating Officer
steve@abvancetherapeutics.com
