A clinical trial at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB is seeking patients aged 18-65 with Type 1 diabetes whose hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C), a measure of sugar in the blood, is between 7% and 10%.

The 52-week study will determine whether patients with Type 1 diabetes benefit when their insulin therapy is supplemented with two drugs designed to treat Type 2 diabetes — semaglutide and dapaglifozin — or with semaglutide alone.

The primary endpoint will be a reduction in patients’ mean baseline HbA1c, which is considered optimal in Type 1 diabetes when under 7%. Currently, less than 20% of patients with Type 1 diabetes have HbA1c of under 7%.

The international study is being led by Paresh Dandona, SUNY Distinguished Professor in the Department of Medicine in the Jacobs School, and by John Petrie, professor of medicine at the University of Glasgow. Both are global leaders in the treatment of Type 1 diabetes. This study is supported generously by JDRF, the leading global organization funding Type 1 diabetes research.

Since 2011, Dandona, who is also a physician with UBMD Internal Medicine, and his UB colleagues have been researching new treatments for Type 1 diabetes patients, who to this day rely on insulin, either as multiple daily injections or through a continuous subcutaneous infusion. Dandona points out that there have been no other successful therapeutic strategies for Type 1 diabetes since insulin was discovered nearly 100 years ago.

To participate, call Jean Hejna at 716 535 1850.