JDRF and Dexcom announced that they have formed a partnership whose goal is to accelerate the development of a novel wireless “smart transmitter” that would allow a continuous glucose monitor (CGM) system to communicate directly with an artificial pancreas control device currently being used for research studies, instead of only with a CGM receiver.   JDRF will provide Dexcom up to $500,000 over 12 months in milestone-based funding to complete the development, testing, and manufacturing of a custom “smart transmitter” prototype,...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first outpatient artificial pancreas trial in the United States, marking a critical development in the effort by JDRF and its allies to bring this innovative and lifesaving diabetes technology to people with type 1 diabetes.   The JDRF-funded study will test an artificial pancreas system’s ability to function outside of a hospital setting, and is similar to the current outpatient trials being conducted in Europe.     The study is part of the first outpatient trials...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued draft guidance designed to help investigators and manufacturers as they develop and seek approval for artificial pancreas device systems to treat type 1 diabetes. This step comes after a large campaign led by the Juvenile Diabetes research Foundation (JDRF) pushing the FDA to set reasonable guidelines for the development of the artificial pancreas. JDRF’s campaign included a petition signed by 110,000 diabetes advocates asking the FDA to issue draft guidance by December 1, as...

Diabetes technology has vastly improved in the last decade, and most people with diabetes who have the opportunity to wear an insulin pump or a continuous glucose monitor are grateful for the assistance they provide.  But even with these advanced tools, the biggest burdens of diabetes – the insulin dosing and blood sugar testing – still lie on the person with diabetes or a caregiver.  Just about every adult with diabetes  will tell you how much they’d like to eat without thinking about each and every bite. ...

The artificial pancreas is better at controlling night time blood sugar levels than conventional pump therapy according to two knew studies carried out at the Wellcome Trust clinical research facility at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in England. The studies compared the the overnight closed loop delivery of insulin (artificial pancreas) with conventional insulin pump (continuous subcutaneous insulin infusion) therapy. The patients were randomly assigned to be treated overnight with either closed...

New research, funded by Diabetes UK, has found that use of an artificial pancreas by woman suffering from type 1 diabetes during pregnancy may drastically reduce cases of stillbirth and mortality rates. Pregnancy poses additional risks for women with diabetes as hormonal changes make it very difficult to keep blood glucose levels within a safe range, especially at night. As a result of high blood glucose levels, babies of women with diabetes are five times as likely to be stillborn, three times as likely to die in their first...

A panel of experts convened by the FDA and NIH to try to advance research and development of the artificial pancreas put forth clinical recommendations to ensure the safe and effective testing of artificial pancreas technology in real-life situations. The experts are in agreement that even with the advanced treatments available today, tight blood sugar control remains a challenge and daily struggle for those living with type 1 diabetes. In fact, the majority of people living with the disease are not achieving recommended target...

Researchers from the University of California San Diego and GlySens Inc. have developed an implantable sensor that measures blood sugar continuously and transmits the information without wires, according to a Reuters report . The device worked in one pig for more than a year and in another for nearly 10 months with no trouble, and the researchers hope to start a human study within a few months. The project funded partly by JDRF is part of the Artificial Pancreas Project which aims to develop an automated insulin delivery system based...

Jeffrey Brewer was on top of the world. For years he had put in 100-hour workweeks as cofounder of two early Internet juggernauts: local guide Citysearch and the online advertising pioneer GoTo.com (later renamed Overture). But by 2001, with more than enough money to live on for the rest of his life, the 32-year-old handed off control of Overture and set out on a yearlong trip to Australia with his wife and two kids. Upon their return to the States, though, they noticed something odd. Seven-year-old Sean was unquenchably thirsty...

An artificial pancreas recently developed at the National Center for Childhood Diabetes at Schneider Children’s Hospital in Israel, was tested on seven patients between the ages of 19 and 30. The device consists of a pump that releases insulin and a sensor, which is connected to a small computer which calculates the required amount of insulin to be delivered. The results of the trials, which were published in the journal “Diabetes Care,” were very encouraging: 70 percent of the patients maintained a reasonable...