# Co-Formulations of Amylin Analogues with Insulin Analogues for Treatment of Diabetes

> **NIH NIH R01** · STANFORD UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $51,177

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
The ultimate goal of the proposed work is to develop a novel co-formulation of insulin analogues (e.g. lispro
and aspart) with an amylin analogue (e.g. pramlintide) to enable a transformational new treatment for diabetes
constituting a true replacement therapy. The most challenging aspect of optimal glycemic control for the 1.25
million people with type 1 diabetes in the United States is limiting large increases in blood glucose after a meal.
People with type 1 diabetes do not produce the insulin required for the body to process glucose, so insulin
must be replaced by daily injections. Amylin is a small peptide hormone excreted alongside insulin by
pancreatic β islet cells that acts centrally to slow gastric emptying, suppress postprandial glucagon secretion,
and decrease food intake, thus complementing the action of insulin to regulate blood glucose levels. Similar to
insulin, amylin production is completely absent in individuals with type 1 diabetes on account of their lack of
pancreatic β cells. While treatment of diabetes with a combination of insulin and amylin analogues at meal
times has been shown to be more effective than insulin alone, the burdensome administration of insulin and
amylin analogues as two separate injections since these proteins can't be co-formulated. Symlin (Pramlintide;
AstraZeneca), the only commercial amylin analogue formulation, is formulated at pH~4 while Novolog (Aspart;
Novonordisk) and Humalog (Lispro; Eli Lilly), insulin analogue formulations, are typically formulated at pH~7.4.
We have developed an approach to non-covalent PEGylation of proteins enabling stable co-formulation of
these two drugs for the first time whereby their optimal therapeutic ratio is defined in the formulation. This novel
combination therapy will yield unprecedented postprandial glycemic control and catalyze the development of a
powerful tool for the management of diabetes affording thus far unrealized therapeutic impact.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10631619
- **Project number:** 3R01DK119254-04S1
- **Recipient organization:** STANFORD UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Eric Andrew Appel
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $51,177
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2022-08-01 → 2023-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10631619

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10631619, Co-Formulations of Amylin Analogues with Insulin Analogues for Treatment of Diabetes (3R01DK119254-04S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10631619. Licensed CC0.

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