Insulin injections or pumps are routine for people with type 1 diabetes, but they aren’t a cure. Teplizumab (Tzield), developed and distributed by Provention Bio and Sanofi, however, may bring us one step closer to one. The drug, which patients inject daily for 14 days, is an antibody that prevents immune cells from attacking the insulin-making cells that are important for controlling blood sugar. It’s expensive (about $193,000 for a 14-day course), but it’s the first treatment to address the actual cause of type 1 diabetes. In one study, people on the verge of developing type 1 diabetes who received the drug were able to double the time it took to get diagnosed compared to those who received placebo.
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