Medical Need: Diabetes

There are two forms of diabetes: Type I or juvenile-onset, and Type II or adult-onset. Islet transplantation could potentially be useful in both forms, however, the Company will initially focus on Type 1 diabetics whose blood glucose fluctuations are more severe.

There are 11.1 million diabetes sufferers in the United States and the Center for Disease Control estimates that another 6 million cases are undiagnosed.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder where the immune system attacks and destroys insulin-producing islet cells of the pancreas. These cells are created shortly after birth and cannot repair themselves if damaged.

5-10% of all diabetes cases are Type I insulin-dependent and approximately one in every 400-500 children and adolescents is diagnosed with the disease.

Current treatments for Type I diabetes are palliative and require constant glucose monitoring and repeated daily insulin injections. In contrast, the transplantation of glucose-producing pancreatic islet cells could allow patients to become independent of injected insulin and eliminate the need for constant monitoring of their blood glucose levels.

For more information, please see the websites of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation or the Centers for Disease Control.

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