US Scientists Develop Therapy Offering Life Without Insulin for Type 1 Diabetes

Vertex Pharmaceuticals in the US has developed a new therapy called VX‑880, which allows a patient’s body to start producing its own insulin again. Among 14 patients who participated in clinical trials, 10 have been insulin-free for two years. Scientists consider this result the first real breakthrough in the last 100 years.

A similar approach is being tested on mice by researchers at Stanford Medicine. The studies showed that the animals’ bodies began producing insulin naturally. Scientists transplanted blood cells and insulin-producing cells from donors into the mice’s pancreas, which led to the mice generating their own insulin without the need for external injections.

This therapy offers great hope in the fight against type 1 diabetes, but it is still in the research stage. Some patients may require immunosuppressive drugs, and the long-term safety has not yet been fully studied. Nevertheless, the results of VX‑880 represent one of the most significant scientific steps toward curing type 1 diabetes.