GI Dynamics Inc. announced the first patient in the India I-STEP clinical study has been treated at Apollo Speciality Hospital in Chennai, India in January. Apollo Speciality Hospital, OMR, Chennai, is one of four clinical study sites and is led by Dr. Usha Ayyagari, MBBS, MRCP (UK), MRCPE (Edin), CCT (Oxford, UK), FRCP (London), FRCPE (Edin), Senior Consultant in Diabetes and Endocrinology, and Dr. Bharath Kumar Mookiah, MBBS, MD, MRCP (UK), DNB, Consultant Gastroenterologist. I-STEP is a multi-center, randomized (3 EndoBarrier: 1 Control), controlled, pivotal trial of EndoBarrier in India.

The trial is designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of EndoBarrier for glycemic improvement in patients with inadequately controlled type 2 diabetes and obesity. All enrolled patients will fall within a predetermined hemoglobin A1c range, follow a moderate intensity lifestyle, and receive dietary counseling along with standard practice medication management. The I-STEP trial's lead investigators are Dr. K. S. Soma Sekhar Rao, MBBS, MD, DM, Consultant Gastroenterologist and Hepatologist in the Department of Medical Gastroenterology and Hepatology at Apollo Hospital, Jubilee Hills, Hyderabad, and Dr. Usha Ayyagari, Senior Consultant Endocrinologist, Apollo Speciality Hospital, OMR, Chennai.

The four clinical trial sites include Apollo Hospitals/Apollo Sugar Clinics in Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Bangalore. This is the first of 100 patients whom The company expects to be enrolled into the I-STEP trial. Patients treated with EndoBarrier will receive diabetes medication monitoring and counseling throughout the 24-month study period.