Biodel’s insulin drug moves to next test phase

Danbury’s Biodel Inc. says it signed up some 130 diabetics for the next leg of its ongoing study of the efficacy of its ultra-fast-acting synthetic insulin for regulating their blood sugar.

Biodel CEO Errol De Souza, M.D., said doubling patient enrollment for the Phase 2 trial is crucial to keeping the company on schedule with collecting and analyzing the top-line data in the third quarter.

The test patients who have type 1 diabetes were randomized to receive either Biodel’s proprietary BIOD-123 compound or Humalog to use as their mealtime insulin during an 18-week treatment period, the company said.