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Two University of Arizona physicians want to bring a prescription drug developed in Cuba to the United States to treat diabetic foot ulcers that can lead to death in some diabetics.
Every 20 seconds a person with diabetes undergoes an amputation resulting from a diabetic foot ulcer. The ulcers arise when a person with diabetes loses sensation in the foot and can’t feel a blister forming. An infected wound can lead to limb amputation.
UA physicians David Armstrong and Marvin Slepian recently traveled to Cuba to partner with medical colleagues to bring the drug called Heberprot-P to the U.S. They say they hope the normalization of relations between the two countries will help speed clinical trials and lead to approval by the Food and Drug Administration.
The drug is used in 27 countries. It fosters rapid wound healing and a 75 percent reduction in amputations, the physicians say.
Dr. Armstrong says it costs more to treat severe diabetic wounds than the five leading cancers in the U.S.
The American Diabetes Association reports 73,000 diabetic patients undergo amputations each year. Of those who have a leg amputation, more than half die within three years.
Later this month, Dr. Armstrong will address the Congressional Caucus on Diabetes about Heberprot-P and other research at the UA’s Southern Arizona Limb Salvage Alliance.
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