A Cure for Diabetes Is Moving Closer Toward Reality
A cure for Type 1 diabetes is reportedly being tested on human patients.
Johnson & Johnson has joined forces with diabetes treatment company ViaCyte to speed the development of a stem-cell based cure, according to the Associated Press. The companies say that it is the first treatment to make it to patient testing.
The therapy, which is being tested in a small number of patients with Type 1 diabetes, implants a small capsule under the skin that is teeming with insulin-producing cells made from embryonic stem cells. The capsule acts like an artificial pancreas, creating insulin in diabetic bodies that can’t make their own.
If the human testing stage is effective, the treatment could be available to Type 1 diabetes patients in “several” years, the AP reported. Eventually, Type 2 diabetes patients should also be able to use the treatment.
In order to pool their assets, ViaCyte acquired the assets of Johnson & Johnson’s diabetes-focused venture, Janssen BetaLogics, giving the private medicine company exclusive rights to 145 patents and 565 pending patent applications, according to ViaCyte. The financial terms were not disclosed.
"For more than a decade BetaLogics and ViaCyte have been independently working toward a stem cell-derived therapy for diabetes,” ViaCyte president and CEO Paul Laikind said in a press release. “We look forward to delivering effective new treatments for this difficult disease."
Fortune reached out to Johnson & Johnson for comment and will update this article with a response.
See original article on Fortune.com
Diabetes-focused 'unicorn' Intarcia makes its first-ever acquisition
This startup may have just revolutionized Type 2 diabetes treatment
