Hyperion Terminates Development of Immune Intervention Therapy Due to Trial Misconduct

Twitter summary: Due to company misconduct by Andromeda, biotech co. Hyperion terminates development of immune intervention therapy for #T1D

On September 8, Hyperion Therapeutics announced that it would stop development of DiaPep277, a phase 3 immune intervention therapy that would have targeted new onset type 1 diabetes. This past June, Hyperion had acquired the company Andromeda Biotech, which had already been developing DiaPep277. Previous trials had indicated that DiaPep277 may lead to reduced beta cell loss, improved A1c, and reduced rates of hypoglycemia in new type 1 patients. But Hyperion recently discovered that several Andromeda employees had falsified the trial data. Employees had excluded 34 participants from the trial’s data analysis; if those individuals had been included, the results would no longer have been statistically significant. While Hyperion plans to finish its current DiaPep277 trial, it does not plan to continue research or to bring the therapy to market – a disappointing outcome, by any measure. –AJW