JDRF: Level 4, 80-84 Chandos Street, St Leonards NSW 2065 Tel 02 9966 0400 Fax 02 9966 0172 WWW www.jdrf.org.au
Media Release
14 January 2010
Artificial pancreas to revolutionise diabetes care
In a significant breakthrough for people with diabetes, JDRF has formed a partnership
with two international companies to produce an automated diabetes management system
to eliminate the need for insulin injections and dramatically reduces the risk of life
threatening health complications.
The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation has today announced an innovative partnership to develop an
automated system to help people with type 1 diabetes better control their disease – the first step on the path to
what would be among the most revolutionary advancements in treating type 1 diabetes: the development of an
artificial pancreas, a fully automated system to dispense insulin to patients based on real-time changes in blood
sugar levels.
JDRF has formed a partnership with Animas, a Johnson & Johnson company and a leading manufacturer and
distributor of insulin delivery and glucose management systems. JDRF is a global leader
in research leading to
better treatments and cures for type 1 diabetes.
The objectives of the partnership, a major industry initiative within the JDRF Artificial Pancreas Project, are to not
only produce the automated system but to conduct extensive clinical trials for safety and efficacy and submit the
product to the regulatory authorities for approval and subsidy.
“If successful, the development of this first-generation system would begin the process of automating how people
with diabetes manage their blood sugar,” said Mike Wilson Chief Executive Officer of JDRF Australia.
“Ultimately, an artificial pancreas will deliver insulin as needed, minute-by-minute, throughout the day to
maintain blood sugars within a target range. But even this early system could bring dramatic changes in the
quality of life for the 140,000 Australians living with type 1 diabetes, beginning to free kids and adults from
testing, calculating and treating themselves throughout the day.”
Dr. Alan Lewis, CEO and President of JDRF International noted that “JDRF will provide $US8 million in funding over
the next three years for this project, with a target of having a first-generation system ready within four years.”
People with insulin-dependant diabetes rely on a daily balancing act of calculating the right amount of insulin and
blood glucose they need to survive. These calculations are not simple – too little blood sugar and they risk slipping
into a hypoglycemic coma; too much and they face lifelong health complications such as blindness, heart and
kidney failure, and premature death.
Currently, type 1 diabetes is managed with insulin injected from a needle or an insulin pump and regular
fingerprick blood tests. Unfortunately, blood glucose levels can change rapidly in response to hundreds of
different triggers making it extremely difficult to accurately predict the amount of insulin required.
This
first-generation system will be partially automated, utilizing an insulin pump connected wirelessly with a
continuous glucose monitor (CGM). The CGM continuously reads glucose levels through a sensor with a hair-thin
sensor wire inserted just below the skin, typically on the abdomen. The sensor would transmit those readings to
the insulin pump, which delivers insulin through a small tube or patch on the body. The pump would house a
sophisticated computer program that will address safety concerns during the day and night, by helping prevent
hypoglycemia and extreme hyperglycemia. It would slow or stop insulin delivery if it detected blood sugar was
going too low and would increase insulin delivery if blood sugar was too high.
For example, the system would automatically discontinue insulin delivery to help prevent hypoglycemia, and then
automatically resume insulin delivery based
on a specific time interval (i.e., 2 hours) and/or glucose
concentration. It will also automatically increase insulin delivery to reduce the amount of time spent in the
hyperglycemic range and return to a pre-set basal rate once glucose concentrations have returned to acceptable
levels.
In this early version of an automated diabetes management system, the patient would still need to manually
instruct the pump to deliver insulin at times, (i.e. around meals). But this “hypoglycemia-hyperglycemia
minimizer” system would represent a significant step forward in diabetes management, and could provide
immediate benefits in terms of blood sugar control, by minimizing dangerous highs and lows.
The Artificial pancreas project was established by JDRF in 2005. You
can find out more at
For more information on please contact Gayle McNaught on 0401625905
Type 1 Diabetes – the facts
There are 140,000 Australians with type 1 diabetes and with five new cases every day, Australia has one of the highest rates in the world. The
number of Australian children being diagnosed with this disease is increasing by 3% every year. Typically striking young people, type 1 diabetes
destroys the ability to produce insulin, which is vital for life. It requires an essential daily regime of multiple injections or continuous infusion of
insulin through a pump, as well as 6 – 8 finger-prick blood tests. Type 1 diabetes is associated with a significantly increased risk of serious
health complications. An autoimmune disease, type 1 diabetes is thought to be caused by a complex mixture of genetic and environmental
factors but not by an unhealthy diet or obesity. The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation is the world’s largest not-for-profit supporter of
diabetes research and has invested over US$1.3 billion since inception in 1970. The mission of JDRF is constant: to find a cure for diabetes and
its complications through the support of research.
NEWS 
