$PMCB This Short Video Explains Why Novo Nordisk a
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Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) and Sanofi SA (NYSE:SNY) may have a firm grasp on most of the diabetes market now, but a brief video explains how Pharmacyte Biotech Inc. (OTCMKTS:PMCB) could soon be a disruptor in the industry.
Investors in-tune with existing and in-development diabetes drugs will likely know that's a race Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) is winning, hands-down. Last year, Novo Nordisk sold $12.5 billion worth of diabetes drugs. The next nearest name, Sanofi SA (NYSE:SNY), was a distant second, with $9.5 billion worth of diabetes drug sales in 2014.
Those are big numbers, and between the two, it's tough to imagine any other players even getting a chance to carve out some sizable market share from that currently controlled by Sanofi and Novo Nordisk. Biotechnology is the great equalizer though, and it's the size of the breakthrough rather than the size of the company that can prove disruptive... even to the giants. That's why investors may want to take a look at the diabetes-treatment a small cap player called Pharmacyte Biotech Inc. (OTCMKTS:PMCB) is doing. And, for those investors keenly familiar with PMCB, they may want to watch a short video taking an even closer look at the work the company is doing on the diabetes front.
The premise is brilliant, and the underlying technology that makes it happen is incredible.
The biotechnology at the heart of PharmaCyte's solution is called Cell-in-a-Box. Pharmacyte Biotech developed Cell-in-a-Box as a way of depositing encapsulated, living, normally-functioning cells into a particular part of the body so their presence could drive a therapeutic benefit.
It's as much of a process as it is a biotech structure.
The first step in their creation is a mix of live cells (that ultimately spur or even become the therapy) and a proprietary polymer that is then dropped into another proprietary polymer. The two polymers react to form a solid object about the size of the head of the pin, with the still-living cells beneath the shell of the tiny sphere. Though only a few millimeters across, the number of living cells inside the tiny bead-sized capsule can be in the thousands.
As for how the technology could be used to treat type 1 diabetes , the encapsulated cells are insulin-producing Melligen cells. Melligen cells have been genetically engineered to produce, store and secrete insulin at levels in proportion to the levels of blood sugar in the human body. Just like a diabetic's own islet cells would recognize the presence of glucose and start producing insulin, the cells inside the PharmaCyte capsule are able to sense high levels of glucose and respond by producing an appropriate amount of insulin. A handful of these pinhead-sized capsules containing Melligen cells can replace the insulin-producing function of the pancreas from some other site in the body.
The real breakthrough, though, is the encapsulation polymer itself.
The shell of the pinhead-sized capsule keeps the cells inside, yet lets insulin out, while allowing nutrients in, and waste out. Most important though, the shell keeps the body's own immune system from killing these cells.... something most previous encapsulation approaches didn't do. All too often in the past, person's immune system would see foreign cells as a threat, attacking and eventual killing those cells.
There's still work to be done. Cell-in-a-Box as a treatment pathway for type 1 diabetes is currently in the preclinical testing phase, although it was recently determined to be safe as a means of treating type 1 diabetes by the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna. Based on the results witnesses in the preliminary studies at the university, the company aims to move forward with plans that will ultimately result in human trials. In that the approach actually restores a body's insulin-producing capability though, the implantation of encapsulated Melligen cells truly and accurately could be described as an artificial pancreas.
As of today, investors looking for a little more insight above and beyond what they already know may want to watch a new video available at the company's website here.
The brief video offers thoughts from members of the company's International Diabetes Consortium, which now meets annually to make plans for the coming year on the matter of addressing the growing diabetes epidemic. It offers a little more insight to the underlying science, and a lot more insight as to how the science could be game-changing as well as lucrative. It may well eventually up-end much of the diabetes business Novo Nordisk and Sanofi SA are now enjoying.