Bayhill partners with diabetes foundation

California, USA-based Bayhill Therapeutics, a developer of therapies for autoimmune diseases, and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the world's leading charitable funder of type 1 diabetes research, have announced a partnership to support the firm's ongoing Phase I/II clinical trial of BHT-3021, a DNA vaccine to reverse the immune response that causes type 1 diabetes.

BHT-3021 is an antigen-specific immunotherapeutic DNA vaccine designed to reverse the underlying autoimmune disease process in diabetes, and slow down or halt further loss of pancreatic beta cell function.

"We are very pleased to have the support of JDRF as we advance the clinical development of BHT-3021," said Mark Schwartz, Bayhill's chief executive. "This agreement demonstrates JDRF's commitment to funding ground-breaking clinical research and to the development of novel therapeutics that can potentially have an important impact on the lives of people with diabetes. There are currently no disease-modifying products available to the millions of patients suffering from this disease. We believe BHT-3021 will provide a better treatment alternative for them," he noted.