TUESDAY, June 25, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- An experimental stem cell therapy can essentially cure type 1 diabetes by restoring insulin production in some patients, early clinical trial results show. Seven out of 12 patients no longer needed daily insulin shots after receiving a full dose of the gene therapy, dubbed VX-800, researchers reported Friday at the American Diabetes Association’s annual meeting in Orlando, Fla. Another two needed about 70% less insulin daily to keep their blood sugar stable, results show.
“This positive data adds to the growing body of evidence for VX-880’s potential to revolutionize the treatment of type 1 diabetes,” said researcher Dr. Piotr Witkowski , director of the pancreatic and islet transplant program at the University of Chicago. People with type 1 diabetes aren’t able to produce enough insulin to keep blood sugar levels stable.
Type 1 diabetes occurs when the immune system mistakenly targets and attacks the islet cells in the pancreas that generate insulin. VX-880 works by introducing fresh islet cells that have been derived from stem cells, with the aim that those cells will restore pancreatic function. For the early-stage clinical trial, researchers recruited 12 people with poorly controlled type 1 diabetics.
All had average hemoglobin A1C levels of 7.8%, a level at which there’s an increased risk of complications from diabetes. They’d also experienced severe hypoglycemia two to four times in the prior year, and used about .