Cell Therapies

Thanks to recent advances, people with type 1 diabetes (T1D) could be freed from their blood-glucose monitors and insulin injections for years, or even decades. The JDRF Beta Cell Therapies Program invests in research and clinical trials to develop and deliver life-changing therapies that place healthy, insulin-producing beta cells back into the bodies of people with T1D.

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Our Approach

In people with T1D, the autoimmune system destroys the pancreas’s beta cells, which produce insulin. One known way to cure T1D is to replace destroyed beta cells with external cells that make insulin and protect them so that they can function for a very long time. Islet transplantation using donor islets from cadavers has provided evidence for a long-term cure through insulin independence and other benefits. Currently, only a small portion of people living with T1D can get this treatment because of the challenges of producing beta cells, and because a beta cell recipient must also take medications to protect the implanted beta cells for the rest of their life.

Program Goals

Develop a renewable beta cell source so that every person with T1D can get this treatment.

Find ways to maintain the beta cells so they stay functional in the body for years—or even decades.

Shield the beta cells from immune attack to prevent the need for anti-rejection drugs or the recurrence of T1D.

Progress

2021
May 27

JDRF Launches Centers of Excellence to Find Cures

JDRF announces the launch of Centers of Excellence to solve the riddle of the body rejecting stem cell-derived beta cells through immune modulation and gene editing.
May 1

Vertex Launches Clinical Trial

Vertex began a phase I/II clinical trial of VX-880, which uses stem cell-derived beta cells to try to restore the body’s ability to produce insulin, in combination with immunosuppressive therapy to protect the cells from rejection.

2019
May 27

Sernova Demonstrates Insulin Production

Sernova, a clinical-stage regenerative medicine company, showed in its JDRF-funded clinical trial that its cell replacement therapy, the Cell Pouch System™, can produce insulin in people with T1D.

May 1

ViaCyte Shows Insulin Production in People with T1D

ViaCyte, a beta cell replacement company long supported by JDRF, showed—for the first time ever—that its PEC-Directtherapy helps people with T1D produce insulin again.

Looking Ahead

In the past decade, JDRF has invested more than $140 million in cell therapies. Future research will continue to investigate how to keep the beta cells alive and healthy using gene editing, encapsulation, and immune modulation.

Want to learn more? View JDRF scientists Jaime Giraldo, Ph.D., and Esther Latres, Ph.D., below for a presentation on the cell therapies portfolio. You can also view the extended strategy here.