Type 1 Diabetes Vaccine to Be Tested in Humans 

The researchers have announced that human trials could begin as early as next year.

A group of Finnish researchers has made a potentially groundbreaking discovery: they have developed a prototype vaccine for type 1 diabetes that has been proven effective and safe in mice. Now, the group is taking the vaccine to the next step and will start clinical trials in humans beginning in 2018.

The group, led by Professor of Virology Heikki Hyöty from the University of Tampere in Finland, has focused their research on a group of viruses known as enteroviruses. They believe that the viruses occasionally infect pancreas cells that produce insulin, damaging them and rendering them useless.

The vaccine that was developed by Hyöty and his colleagues aims to prevent the viruses from attacking the pancreas cells and in turn prevent the development of type 1 diabetes.

“The aim is to develop a vaccine that could prevent a significant number of type 1 diabetes cases,” explained Hyöty. “Additionally, the vaccine would protect from infections caused by enteroviruses such as the common cold, myocarditis, meningitis and ear infections. However, in light of current research, the vaccine could not be used to cure existing diabetes.”

Based on their success with trials in mice, the team is now working to pioneer a human vaccine. In the first clinical phase, which will involve 30 human subjects, it will be determined if the vaccine is safe for humans.

The second phase will focus on children and will test the vaccine in 150 children. During this phase, the team will see if the vaccine is effective in protecting against the enteroviruses. The third and last phase will investigate if the vaccine could be used to prevent the onset of type 1 diabetes.

The cost of treating type 1 diabetes over a person’s lifetime is expensive, so finding a vaccine for type 1 diabetes could save individuals and health insurers a significant amount of money.

While the news coming out of Finland is fairly exciting, the team notes that it may take up to 8 years before they know if their vaccine will be successful in preventing type 1 diabetes.

Until then, we’ll stick to using Dario to monitor our blood glucose and manage our diabetes!