The absence of news items on scientific breakthroughs does not mean that research is lacking on this subject; however, the process of developing any ‘antidote’ is quite lengthy and, in most cases, the general opinion is that the chances of developing a safe cure – in this case for coeliac disease – are not that easy to attain.
Only to illustrate the lengthy processes involved, we are including a table showing the various stages of the process to develop a new ‘medicine’ or product for human consumption.
Such publicity has recently been attributed to Dr. Falk Pharma and Zedira announcing the successful completion of the phase 2a proof-of-concept study of ZED1227 for the treatment of Coeliac Disease.
The proof-of-concept study enrolled patients in 7 European countries including Germany, Finland, and Norway. The clinical trial demonstrated a substantial protective effect of the first-in-class drug candidate ZED1227 on the duodenal mucosa during a 6-week gluten challenge.
As a sensible Association, we firmly believe that – whilst, as coeliacs, we all look forward to that magic cure we all wish to immediately have available – can only advocate caution to avoid any unwanted and unfounded expectations to a promise of solution to our condition.