Coronavirus: UAE’s Mubadala Healthcare part-funds COVID-19 UK diabetes drug trial

A UK drug trial aimed at helping people with diabetes recover from coronavirus has received financial backing from a major healthcare provider in the United Arab Emirates.

Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Healthcare pledged on Sunday to part-fund the trial, which is known as Arcadia.

The Arcadia trial is testing an immune-dampening drug that may be able to help diabetics, a high-risk group from COVID-19, overcome the effects of the virus. It began in September and samples the drug on patients with mild or moderate coronavirus symptoms.

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“The trial will determine whether this oral drug improves clinical outcomes via increased glucose control and a potential effect on the immune system,” wrote Diabetes.org.uk.

“[The] Research grant will enhance efforts to achieve better healthcare outcomes for more than one million diabetic patients in the UAE,” tweeted Mubadala.

The healthcare provider, whose network includes Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi and Abu Dhabi Telemedicine Center, did not specify how much money it would be contributing to the trials.

Globally, people with diabetes have suffered from higher death rates from the coronavirus pandemic.

The World Health Organization lists people with diabetes as among the group most at risk of severe illness or death from COVID-19.

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