U.S. biotechnology company Xoma Ltd said Monday that a single dose of its experimental antibody has been shown in early-stage trials to improve blood sugar control in patients with type 2 diabetes.

“This could be a disease-modifying drug that allows the pancreas to get back to a more normal state,” Alan Solinger, vice president of clinical immunology at Xoma, told Reuters in a telephone interview.

He said the injectable drug, known as XOMA 052, could potentially be given as infrequently as once a month.

It is designed to block an inflammation-causing protein known as interleukin-1 beta, which has recently been linked to inflammatory damage to insulin-producing cells known as islet cells.

Berkeley, California-based Xoma said interim results from two small Phase 1 trials involving 48 patients showed that a single injection of the antibody reduced levels of HbA1c - a standard measure of glucose control - in four of five tested dose levels compared to placebo.

Median HbA1c levels were reduced in all 5 groups and the reduction was as much as 0.6 percent after 28 days compared to baseline.

“With one dose we have a 0.6 percent improvement. If you extrapolate to three months, the improvement is probably going to be even better,” Solinger said.

Xoma said the trials also showed that 052 improved levels of other diabetes and inflammation markers, including C-reactive protein.

The company also said the trials, which were presented in Rome at a meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, showed no evidence of serious adverse side effects or infusion reactions.

Solinger said Xoma plans to initiate mid-stage clinical trials of 052 later this year.

“If, as we hypothesize, the inhibition of IL-1 beta improves the condition of insulin-producing cells in diabetes patients by targeting inflammation, the implications would be very encouraging for the treatment of the disease,” Dr. Marc Donath, professor at the University Hospital of Zurich and lead investigator of Xoma’s European trial, said in a statement

LOS ANGELES (Reuters)