STAT+: Vertex reports positive results in stem cell trial for type 1 diabetes
ORLANDO — Twelve people with type 1 diabetes who received a therapy derived from stem cells were able to produce enough of their own insulin to maintain healthy blood glucose levels 90 days later, Vertex Pharmaceuticals said Friday. All but one reduced or eliminated the need to inject insulin over those three months and three people followed for one year no longer needed to inject insulin at all.
Researchers say the study marks a promising approach that could one day relieve some people with type 1 diabetes of the need for daily insulin injections.
“These cells clearly work,” said Jay Skyler, an endocrinologist at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine who was not involved in the study.
