Guardian. The world’s first drug to delay the onset of type 1 diabetes is to be made available on the NHS (National Health Service) in England and Wales, in the biggest breakthrough in tackling the disease for more than a century.
Millions of people have type 1 diabetes worldwide, which typically emerges during childhood or adolescence, and occurs when the pancreas makes little or no insulin. Insulin is a hormone the body uses to allow glucose to enter cells to produce energy.
The immunotherapy, teplizumab, does not cure type 1 diabetes, but postpones its onset for as long as three years, according to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice), which gave the drug the green light.
Its arrival marks a huge step forward. The therapy gives those deemed at high risk of symptomatic type 1 (stage 3) diabetes the chance to delay its onset for the first time in the history of the disease.
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By delaying the onset, people will benefit from years of extra time before facing the heavy demands of lifelong diabetes management. Children and teenagers in particular will have more time to reach key developmental milestones before that point.
The only other treatment for the disease – insulin – was discovered 105 years ago and does not alter the course of the disease. It simply replaces what patients are missing.
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