Our resource hub is home to a wealth of articles, stories and videos about managing and living with type 1 diabetes.
Place your order for our free information packs that support adults and children who have been recently diagnosed.
Our researchers are working on different ways to develop a cure for type 1 diabetes - from growing insulin-producing beta cells in labs to hacking the immune system.
Learn about the technologies that can deliver insulin automatically when needed. And discover the next generation of insulins that are currently being developed.
You could win a cash prize of up to £25,000 when you play the Breakthrough T1D lottery. As well as the chance to win great prizes, you’ll also help fund our research to find a cure for type 1 diabetes.
Your donations help support people living with type 1 diabetes today and fund the best treatment and cure research, no matter where in the world it takes place.
The announcement is the biggest treatment breakthrough for type 1 diabetes since the discovery of insulin.
Join our Virtual Triathlon Challenge and swim, cycle and run while raising money to fund Breakthrough T1D’s life-changing type 1 research.
We provide a wealth of information and free resources to help you support and empower your patients or students.
Take our free course for schools to learn more about supporting pupils with type 1 diabetes in educational settings.
JDRF has now rebranded to Breakthrough T1D. Our name has changed, our mission has not.
Home > News & events > News > Clinical trial finds teplizumab slows type 1 diabetes in people newly diagnosed
Approved by the US FDA in November 2022, teplizumab is an immunotherapy drug proven to delay the onset of type 1 by up to three years in people at high-risk of developing type 1. The PROTECT study results, published today in the New England Journal of Medicine, show that the drug also has the potential to slow the progression of type 1 in people newly diagnosed with the condition.
Teplizumab is the first ever disease-modifying drug licensed for type 1 diabetes. It’s an immunotherapy drug, which means it directly interferes with the immune attack that causes type 1. Having proved effective at slowing the onset of type 1, researchers are now investigating whether teplizumab can also help people who already have type 1.
The PROTECT study took place at four sites in Engand and Wales. 300 young people aged between eight and 17 years, who had all been diagnosed with type 1 in the previous six weeks, took part in the study.
217 participants were given one course of daily teplizumab injections for 12 days, then another course of injections after six months. Meanwhile the remaining people who took part received injections in the same procedure, but theirs contained a placebo. The researchers took the children’s C-peptide levels, which is a measure of the amount of insulin a person can make, at week 78 of the trial.
The children and adolescents who were treated with teplizumab had significantly higher C-peptide levels than those in the placebo group. Insulin is made by cells in the pancreas called beta cells, so the results suggest that teplizumab can preserve beta cell function in people newly diagnosed with type 1. The researchers found that the C-peptide levels of the people who received teplizumab declined more slowly than those who had the placebo.
The more beta cells a person has, the more insulin they can make. Being able to make some insulin yourself can make type 1 easier to manage and keep glucose levels more stable. This is sometimes known as the honeymoon phase or period. We know that puberty and hormones can make type 1 even more difficult for young people to manage, so teplizumab could help get them through those challenging times.
We played a crucial role in funding the early research in the development of teplizumab including early tests in mice, trial recruitment networks, and the clinical trials themselves. For nearly three decades, we have been funding Professor Kevin Herold, who is a co-author of this paper on the PROTECT study and has led several other clinical trials of teplizumab.
Discussions are ongoing between Sanofi, the drug company that makes teplizumab, and the MHRA, the government agency that approves new drugs. The MHRA has already given teplizumab an ‘innovation passport’, which is a way to speed up the approval process.
To learn more about teplizumab, please see our FAQs.
One day, we will create a world without type 1 diabetes. Until that day, your support is vital for our international research to cure, treat and prevent type 1.
Our answers to frequently asked questions about teplizumab, the first disease-modifying drug for type 1 diabetes.
Our work to prevent type 1 diabetes has great potential to lift the burden of this condition from future generations.
Our highlights from a year full of breakthroughs in type 1 diabetes research and advocacy.
The framework aims to encourage UK researchers to consider different sexes (biological attributes) and genders (roles, behaviours and identity in society) to address gaps in health data.
Our Access for All report, launched today, highlights how far we’ve come with advancements in diabetes technology, but shows that many people still face barriers when trying to access T1D technology.
New international guidance detailing how to monitor and support people with early-stage type 1 diabetes (T1D) has the potential to reduce the trauma associated with being diagnosed with T1D, enable people to access the latest treatments to delay the need for insulin therapy, and reduce long-term health complications.
Immunotherapy, beta cell replacement, smart insulins – we’re driving research in the most promising areas to find cures and better treatments for type 1 diabetes.
