24/06/2026
👍 exciting news from the UK!
One in 4 children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes only find out once they experience a life threatening emergency caused by a severe lack of insulin.
Today sees a huge shift for the care of type 1 diabetes, with the approval of Teplizumab, a new drug that can delay the onset of the condition by slowing down antibodies that attack insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.
A local teenager is the first patient in the UK to receive this groundbreaking diabetes treatment at Birmingham Children's Hospital.
Sam was able to receive Teplizumab under a special early licence thanks to the work we have been doing to develop a screening tool for type 1 diabetes.
Through the ELSA screening programme which involves a simple blood test, we can now screen young people who are likely to develop T1d in the future. ELSA gives us a way to ensure that today's approval of Teplizumab can benefit as many people as possible.
Meanwhile, our diabetes experts are looking for ways to reverse the condition or replace beta cells so that type 1 diabetes becomes a disease of the past.
🔗 Read more about this amazing breakthrough here: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/2026/drug-to-delay-type-1-diabetes-approved-for-uk-use
