Sirona Biochem Says New Obesity Data Shows It's On The Right Path

Main Category: Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness
Also Included In: Diabetes
Article Date: 14 Oct 2009 - 9:00 PDT

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Sirona Biochem Corp. (TSX-V: SBM), an emerging biotech company focused on diabetes and obesity, says a newly released Dutch diabetes research paper claims obesity alone may be the best predictor of undiagnosed diabetes.

Sirona Biochem CEO, Dr. Howard Verrico, said, "This study by Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre found undiagnosed in 101 high-risk patients out of 3,724 who took part, but only two were diagnosed out of a random sample of 465 low-risk patients.

"Management of sugar metabolism is a primary medical challenge associated with treating diabetes and obesity and the primary focus of our drug development program is limiting the re-absorption into the body of excess sugars from food and drink.

"Western type diets are excessively loaded with carbohydrates, particularly those that include sugar-loaded drinks and sugar-laden processed foods. Even the carbohydrates in bread and buns get converted into sugars. If sugars are not immediately metabolized and used as energy, a large proportion will end up being converted in body fat.

"Our unique sodium-glucose transporter inhibitor ('SGLT') molecules sharply reduce the body's ability to re-capture sugars and thus they get safely excreted out. Western and European diets have changed radically but evolution has not equipped humans with the ability to adapt safely to the excessive exposure to carbohydrates, sugars and fats. Other factors, of course, play a role -- alcohol consumption, sedentary lifestyle etc.

"The correlation between obesity and elevated risk factors for diabetes is undeniable and this latest research, we believe, shows we are on the right strategic path with developing a drug that helps to manage sugar metabolism in the treatment of diabetes," stated Dr. Verrico.

The report published in the September/October edition of Annals of Family Medicine concluded: "In conclusion, the yield of opportunistic targeted screening in our study was fair, and obesity alone was the best predictor of undiagnosed diabetes. Our data confirm a low yield when low-risk individuals are screened. As diabetes screening is increasingly integrated into cardiovascular risk management, opportunistic screening for type 2 diabetes in primary care could target middle-aged and older adults with obesity."

Sirona Biochem owns the worldwide product rights to a library of unique sodium glucose transporter (SGLT) inhibitors to treat diabetes and obesity. SGLT inhibitors help block the reuptake of excess sugars from urine, which can then reduce high blood sugar towards normal levels.

Impact Of Diabetes And Obesity

23.6 million Americans, or 7.8% of the population, have diabetes (February 2009 DACG.ORG). The diabetes drug market reached US$18 billion in 2005, and is expected to increase to $21-25 billion in 2011.

Furthermore, in recent years, obesity has become a major health problem for many post-industrial societies, so much so that in 2004, the United States Health and Human Services declared obesity to be a disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) projects that globally, in 2005, 1.6 billion adults were overweight with at least 400 million adults obese. By 2015, approximately 2.3 billion adults will be overweight and 700 million will be obese. Obesity poses a major health risk because it greatly increases the risk of co-morbidities such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, arthritis, and cancer.

Source
Sirona Biochem Corp.

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