Relieving patients of the burden of daily injections or managing a connected pump is the hope that the use of islet transplantation (or pancreatic islets), the drivers of blood sugar, maintains. . This technique has been tested in France for many years, on a limited number and type of patients.
These islets taken from donors number several hundred thousand, nestled in the pancreas. Their transplant has been authorized for two years by the High Authority for Health (HAS). But if it makes it possible to avoid the use of insulin and regulates the glycemic “roller coaster”, it does not relieve the need to take immunosuppressive drugs.
Read also on Tribune de Lyon: Health. The Lyon-based company Adocia is developing an innovative gel for diabetes
This is one of the objectives of the technology developed by Adocia (Lyon 3rd): a hydrogel matrix with -95% water, made from biocompatible polymers, mixed with Langherans islets and deposited on a ring of silicogel. The company is awaiting a green light from the authorities to launch a study in 2025 on a small number of patients, which will be increased over time.
Ultimately, to be able to work on a larger scale, it will be necessary to move from collected islets to islets derived from stem cells. Hence discussions to find a solid partner to support, both for its capacity to produce these “source” cells industrially and to provide financial means to Adocia to accelerate its work.
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