Type 1 diabetes

Type 1 diabetes is a life-long autoimmune disease that results in the destruction of the insulin-producing beta cells located in pancreatic islets. This usually leads to absolute insulin deficiency and health decline. However, the discovery of insulin approximately 100 years ago has transformed diabetes from a sure death sentence to a manageable disease, through daily insulin injections.

Living with type 1 diabetes is associated with a multitude of challenges that extend beyond the constant monitoring of the disease. Individuals with T1D face a wide range of comorbidities that significantly impact their quality of life. Among these complications, heart and kidney diseases stand out as particularly consequential, posing substantial risks to the overall health of people with T1D. Moreover, severe hypoglycemic events and impaired hypoglycemic awareness poses a great risk for a large number of T1D patients.

Fluicell’s vision is a curative solution to type 1 diabetes based on bioprinted tissue therapeutics. Our goal is to provide patient-tailored artificial pancreatic islets, capable of enabling glycemic control. We envision a life for people living with type 1 diabetes without requiring everyday medication, disease management and glucose level monitoring.

The best available treatment for typ 1 diabetes available today is transplantation of isolated pancreatic islets. Unfortunately, due to severe lack of donors, this treatment is only available to a very limited number of patients. Fluicell’s goal is to create artificial pancreatic islets with the same therapeutic ability as donated native islets that can be made available to many.

With our Nexocyte, we can create islets that mimic the behavior and function of native islet of Langerhans. Our islets have the ability to produce both insulin and glucagon and respond to both high and low glucose levels. To create a therapeutic implant, we bioprint the islets on a transplantable biomaterial and encapsulate them to protect them form the patient’s immune system. Since our high precision bioprinting technology lets us construct the islets at the cellular level, we can control their cellular composition, their size and their exact placement and spacing in the implant.

Fluicell’s approach to tissue-based type 1-diabetes therapy is not limited by nature. We can make any shape or composition we want, with the goal of creating the best possible therapeutic solution. Our concept can also be adapted to fit the needs of specific patient groups, or even individuals. Our type 1 diabetes therapeutic is currently in preclinical development. We are currently seeking partners to take our engineered islets to patients. Reach out to us to learn more about our therapeutic program and about partnering with Fluicell.

Read our type 1-diabetes white paper