Scientists have reportedly developed a new insulin that could possibly revolutionise the treatment for millions with type one diabetes worldwide.
The solution involves smart insulin that activates as needed within the body, offering a treatment approach nearly as effective as a cure with existing drug therapies.
The experts have developed a new form of insulin that mimics the body’s natural response to blood sugar fluctuations, potentially reducing the frequency of treatments to just once a week.
Currently, type one diabetics need to inject synthetic insulin up to 10 times a day. While these existing insulins help stabilise blood sugar levels when administered, they cannot adjust to subsequent changes.
However, in the future, patients may only need to take the newly developed insulin once a week, experts believe.
Millions of pounds in funding have been allocated to accelerate the development of new glucose-responsive insulin (GRI), according to the Guardian.
Research teams at Stanford University in the US, Monash University in Australia, and Zhejiang University in China are among those awarded £3 million for six projects focused on creating smart insulins.
Four of these projects are dedicated to developing new GRIs, while another aims to create an ultra-fast acting variant.
Dr Tim Heise, the vice-chairman of the novel insulins scientific advisory panel for the Type 1 Diabetes Grand Challenge said the new GRIs would be the ‘holy grail’ of insulin.
He said the innovation would greatly help patients who currently have to manage their condition daily, balancing their glycaemic control while avoiding avoiding hypoglycaemia.
Insulin was co-discovered over 100 years ago in 1921 by Canadian surgeon Dr Frederick Banting and his assistant Charles Best.
Dr Elizabeth Robertson, the director of research at Diabetes UK said the new solution would ‘significantly reduce the daily challenges’ as well as the physical and mental health of those managing the disease.
