Hypoglycaemia is a common and serious complication of diabetes, particularly affecting people with diabetes treated with insulin. Consisting of very low levels of blood glucose, hypoglycaemia can lead to cognitive decline, cardiovascular events and even death.

As much about hypoglycaemia remains unknown, the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) is participating in a new Research Project Hypo-RESOLVE to investigate hypoglycaemia and its impact in diabetes. IDF has joined forces with over 20 leading international players from academia, industry and civil society to find better solutions to alleviate the burden and consequences of this serious complication.

Hypo-RESOLVE (Hypoglycaemia – Redefining SOLutions for better liVEs) aims to provide researchers and clinicians with more validated data about the condition by:

• Creating a sustainable clinical database;
• Conducting studies to better understand the underlying mechanisms of hypoglycaemia;
• Conducting a series of statistical analyses to define predictors and consequences of hypoglycaemia;
• Calculating the financial cost in European countries.

“Our mission within Hypo-RESOLVE is to provide an evidence-based classification of hypoglycaemia based on secure data from 100 to 150 recently conducted clinical trials,” explained Dr Bastiaan de Galan, coordinator of Hypo-RESOLVE and internist at the department of Internal Medicine, Radboud university medical center, in the Netherlands. “With this statistical power, we will be able to make valid statements about the glucose thresholds below which hypoglycaemia constitutes a great risk for people living with diabetes.”

The voices of people living with diabetes will be at the heart of Hypo-RESOLVE, through the establishment of a Patient Advisory Committee. It will ensure that patients’ insights, opinions and wishes are taken into account across all the multiple components of the project.

“Hypoglycaemia presents a huge psychological burden for people with diabetes. We believe that the Patient Advisory Committee will help contribute to a better understanding of the disease’s impact on people with diabetes and ultimately help improve their lives,” said Prof. Nam H. Cho, President of IDF. “Through this project, we also hope to strengthen public awareness of hypoglycaemia and diabetes generally.”

Hypo-RESOLVE is supported with funding of € 26.8 million from the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), a joint undertaking of the European Commission and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA), JDRF, and the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust.

The project will officially kick off its activities with a first meeting in Denmark on May 16-17, 2018.

• Press release (pdf)