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Rituxan, the blockbuster cancer drug developed in San Diego, protects insulin-making cells in Type I diabetics, according to a new study published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The drug partially preserved the “beta cells” that produce insulin, said Dr. Mark D. Pescovitz of Indiana University, who led the study. The results, documented in patients over a one-year period, were encouraging enough that the patients will be studied for a second year.
“What this study showed is that a single treatment early in the course of diabetes had a positive effect,” Pescovitz said.
In Type I diabetes, the beta cells, found in the pancreas, are gradually destroyed. It’s an auto-immune disease, in which the body’s disease-fighting immune system turns against the body. About 5 to 10 percent of the 23.6 million Americans with diabetes have Type I, according to the American Diabetes Association. The rest have Type II diabetes, in which insulin becomes less effective.
Rituxan was developed by San Diego’s Idec Pharmaceuticals, a biotech company since merged into Biogen Idec, based in Cambridge, Mass. The drug being co-marketed by Biogen Idec along with Genentech, a South San Francisco-based subsidiary of the Swiss drug company Roche.
Rituxan attacks certain white blood cells called B cells that can go awry in various diseases. It was originally approved in 1997 to treat a form of non-Hodgkins lymphoma in which B cells become cancerous.
Since then, Rituxan has been approved to treat rheumatoid arthritis, another disease in which B cells have been implicated. It is now being studied as a treatment for chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Rituxan sales in the United States reached $670 million in the third quarter, compared to $655 million in the same quarter of 2008.
Pescovitz said the study began as a “proof of concept” that B cells were involved in the development of Type I diabetes.
“People did not believe that B cells were involved in the disease. They thought it was the T-cells,” Pescovitz said, referring to the other major type of white blood cell. “We showed if you get rid of the B cells, you can have an actual benefit. In future studies, we’ll now be able to optimize the treatment, perhaps giving additional courses of the drug.”

Vista’s Javo Beverage Co., has raised $4.1 million in a private placement, the company announced in a Nov. 19 filing..
Javo makes coffee and tea for vending machines and other drink dispensers.

Isis Pharmaceuticals has had a rough ride with its flagship drug for lowering cholesterol, mipomersen. The drug has shown effectiveness in reducing lipids in patients with a hereditary disease that causes extremely high levels of cholesterol. But safety concerns have sent the stock down.

Despite progress in Phase III clinical trials for mipomersen, Isis stock has fallen back from its late summer high of more than $18 to just over $11 a share, about where it started the year.

So Isis CEO Stanley T. Crook addressed shareholders today, thanking them for their support and saying the company is on the right track:

“We are disappointed with the reaction on Wall Street to what we believe is very positive news. We believe mipomersen will continue to provide results that speak for themselves. Each success brings us closer to getting mipomersen to the market and making the drug available to patients in need.”

Crooke urged investors to listen to a replay of the mipomersen presentation conducted last week at a meeting of the American Heart Association.

Stepping up its focus on biotech, California State University San Marcos Extended Learning will begin offering a Biotechnology Laboratory Technician Certificate program.

According to CSUSM’s press release, “The program is specifically designed to provide program participants with the skills necessary to secure entry-level positions as biotechnology lab technicians or research assistants. Consisting of five classes (16 semester units), the part-time program is tailored to be completed within two semesters of study or approximately eight months.
The Biotechnology Laboratory Technician Certificate courses cover a range of topics deemed crucial in supplying a solid science foundation, supplemented by hands-on training in a laboratory setting. All courses are taught by CSUSM faculty from the Biology, Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Biotechnology departments, and will train students to be well-versed in cutting edge technologies and current market trends.”

For those who need a better scientific background to meet the program’s prerequisites, CSUSM offers a two-week “Biotechnology Boot Camp,” giving basic instruction in mathematics, chemistry and biology .

Federal funding is available for the program. Students who qualify as “Adult” or “Dislocated Workers” under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) may be eligible to have all costs associated the program paid. The cost for the program is $$10,000. Without the Boot Camp, the cost of the program is $9,000.

To learn more about the program, go to www.csusm.edu/el or call 760-750-4020.