Vertex’s Stem-Cell Therapy Slashed Need for Daily Insulin Infusion

Vertex Pharmaceuticals said a patient with a 40-year history of Type 1 diabetes experienced a 91 percent reduction in daily insulin dose after an infusion of its VX-880 stem-cell-derived islet cell replacement therapy.

The cells quickly began functioning as normal islet cells. And with this positive news in hand, the company will continue its phase 1/2 program at several sites in the U.S. and Canada, with the goal of submitting an Investigational New Drug application to the FDA in 2022.

Since diagnosis, the patient required about 34 units of injected insulin daily. This was reduced to 2.9 units 90 days after the VX-880 infusion, which also included what the company called “a standard regimen of immunosuppressive agents.”