GI Dynamics has announced the commercial launch of the EndoBarrier gastrointestinal liner, a non-surgical device designed for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity, in the Netherlands.
EndoBarrier is a thin, flexible, tube-shaped liner proven to lower blood-glucose levels and promote weight loss in diabetic and obese patients by creating a barrier between food and the wall of the intestine.
Clinical trials conducted in the Netherlands that involved around 100 patients demonstrated the efficacy of EndoBarrier in glycaemic control and weight loss.
Ignace Janssen, clinical study investigator and bariatric surgeon at Vitalys Obesitas Centrum at Rijnstate Hospital in Arnhem, said that the clinical trials with EndoBarrier helped them to develop an optimal treatment programme that will help ensure successful outcomes for the patients.
Vitalys Clinics director Martin Kirch said they hope the EndoBarrier can help obese diabetic patients in the lower BMI range, and offers an approach to better manage type 2 diabetes and related comorbidities.
In a previous diabetes trial, type II diabetes patients treated with the EndoBarrier for 12 months achieved a mean 2.3% decrease in HbA1c levels, decreased glucose levels from an average of 175.6 at baseline to 137.8mg/dl and 39% excess weight loss.
Earlier studies also revealed that the EndoBarrier affects certain gastrointestinal hormones involved in insulin sensitivity, glucose metabolism and satiety, and these changes enable rapid and sustained improvement of type 2 diabetes.
The EndoBarrier is commercially available in Chile, Germany, the UK, the Netherlands and Austria, and will soon be available in Australia.
