Celiac Drug in Trial Tests

If you have been listening to the news around the celiac issue, you may already know scientists are developing a celiac drug that is currently in Phase 2 testing!

Alvine Pharmaceuticals, who is in the process of developing a possible drug for celiac disease, said yesterday that it has teamed with global biopharmaceutical company AbbVie to continue work on that drug, known as ALV003.

According to Jane Anderson, About.com Celiac Disease and Gluten Sensitivity expert, the drug in in Phase two trials:

Dr. Green: Celiac Drug Treatment Shows ‘Tremendous’ Potential

ALV003 is an enzyme-based drug designed to degrade gluten molecules “in vitro” — i.e., in your stomach — into smaller pieces that will not cause symptoms.

The drug isn’t designed to allow people with celiac disease to eat all the gluten they want; instead, it potentially would allow celiacs to avoid ongoing damage and symptoms from the tiny amounts of gluten we already consume on a daily basis. As such, it’s considered an adjunct to the gluten-free diet, not a replacement of the diet…..

According to Dr. Adelman, a total of 41 patients enrolled in the ALV003 trial, which was held in Finland. About half the group received ALV003 and half received a placebo. Everyone, meanwhile, ate gluten during the six-week trial — a total of two grams a day, or about half a slice of bread.

Virtually everyone in the trial entered with signs of ongoing inflammation due to accidental gluten consumption. At the end of the trial, however, the patients taking ALV003 while eating gluten weren’t any worse, while the patients taking the placebo while eating gluten had significantly worse inflammation.

Although the trial wasn’t designed to consider improvement in symptoms, those taking ALV003 seemed to have less indigestion and abdominal pain than those taking the placebo. However, patients taking the experimental drug didn’t report any significant changes in diarrhea, constipation or reflux.

Read More here:

Dr. Green: Celiac Drug Treatment Shows ‘Tremendous’ Potential

Alvine Pharma Teams with AbbVie on Potential Celiac Drug

Having a drug to deal with the problems of gluten sensitivity and celiac seems like a godsend to many folks.  Jane Anderson conducted a (on-going) survey on her readers response to the question:  Would you take a drug that would enable you to be less careful on your gluten-free diet?

Here are the responses to date:

8% — Never – I think the diet is far healthier and my symptoms are controlled just fine.

21% — I’d take it very rarely to protect myself in specific social situations. (which is what I voted).

33% — I might take it on a regular basis, but I’d want more information on the drug first.

36% — I’d use it in a heartbeat – I’m tired of being so careful all the time.

Vote in the survey

So how about you?  Would you take a drug to protect you from gluten poisoning?