Research Updates from Dr. Jean Buteau

Welcome to Research Updates: News from the World of Diabetes Research. Today we are catching up with Dr. Jean Buteau!

Dr. Buteau is currently a professor of Human Nutrition at the University of Alberta. He obtained his Ph.D. in Biochemistry at the University of Montreal and then completed a postdoc at Columbia University in New York. In 2012, Dr. Buteau moved to Edmonton after the University of Alberta and the Alberta Diabetes Institute recruited him.[1] He is currently studying the mechanisms of beta cell birth, life, death, and function to create a set of drugs that could promote beta cell regeneration and survival, effectively curing diabetes.



The Research:

Dr. Buteau’s project is testing an oral drug to treat and potentially cure type 1 diabetes. The team has identified a gene in beta cells (the insulin-producing cells located in the pancreas) responsible for the cells’ life or death. Triggering this gene could protect surviving cells and even regenerate cells destroyed by the immune system. Essentially, this means that, if successful, it can reverse the effects of type 1 diabetes. By taking an oral pill, people with diabetes would once again be able to produce insulin on their own. Dr. Buteau and his team have proven the drug to work in mice, but donor support is needed to launch a proof-of-concept study in humans. This project has the potential to be one of the most significant discoveries in the field of diabetes.

In the last 12 months, Dr. Buteau and his team have been preparing for phase 1a of clinical trials, which would involve testing the drug, Tolimidone in 12 patients. This pilot study would help develop the protocol and baseline for the larger clinical trial. This is truly a significant milestone; it is rare for drug candidate research within the Alberta Diabetes Institute to make it to clinical trials. If successful, this would represent a major, homegrown success story.

Dr. Buteau and his team are preparing to launch this 12-person pilot study in the next 6-8 months.

[1] “Adhera Therapeutics Names Preeminent Diabetes Pioneer Dr. Jean Buteau to Scientific Advisory Board,” Global Newswire: Adhera Therapeutics, Inc., https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2022/03/21/2406798/0/en/Adhera-Therapeutics-Names-Preeminent-Diabetes-Pioneer-Dr-Jean-Buteau-to-Scientific-Advisory-Board.html, March 2022