From humble beginnings to unprecedented results, Dunica’s story is one of inspiration and collaboration. It motivated leading researchers to participate in our mission, and helped us gain the support of medical giant Merck.
From wildcrafting to bench-to-bedside development.
Dunica was founded by Daniella Givon, a clinical herbalist and entrepreneur whose daughter was diagnosed with type T1 diabetes at the age of seven years. They were quickly familiarized with the struggle of managing the disease, juggling a strict diet, blood-sugar monitoring, and multiple insulin injections taken day and night.
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While treating her daughter at home, Daniella discovered a wildcrafted plant that seemed to stabilize her blood sugar levels. Initial testing showed that this wasn't a coincidence - according to an ethnobotanical survey, the plant had a solid therapeutic potential. Daniella was set on a course to formulate it into a safe and effective medication.
Our path to success
Dunica’s founding team was first assembled in 2018.
We defined the company’s main objective to develop a therapy that would stop the process of beta-cell destruction in early-stage (stage 2) type 1 diabetes patients, thus preventing them from developing insulin dependency.
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Our development methodology was structured collaboratively with researchers from all around the globe, seeking to improve our initial work model. Between 2018 and 2020, we conducted multiple safety and efficacy studies in preclinical animal models that concluded with success: DUN T1 was proven safe for 100% of the animal test subjects and efficient in over 70% of them.
Towards clinical development
In 2022, pharmaceutical leader Merck recognized our work’s significance and contributed two research grants towards finalizing our pre-clinical research.
We are currently seeking additional partnerships and investors to support us in completing our last development cycles, preparing for our first-in-human study, and publishing our preclinical results before we proceed to full clinical development.