Israeli firm says pancreas to cure diabetes ready for trials in UK

An Israeil firm that claims it has find a cure for diabetes has said it will send a request for initiation of human clinical trials next month in the UK. 

Betalin Therapeutics says it has created micro pancreas that will free diabetics from the need of insulin injections and blood sugar monitoring. The company says the "bio-artificial" pancreas can be used by type-1 diabetis patients and people with type-2 disease who require insulin injections. 

Betalin Therapeutics aims to begin human testing early in 2021 and expects to launch it in the market in 2024, reports Guardian. 

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The innovation is based on a biological scaffold, adapted from pig lung tissue. These hold beta cells which release insulin according to a patient's blood sugar levels. 

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These artificial pancreas are very small and is implanted from the thigh using local anaesthesia.

"Our unique technology allows the body to heal itself," said Nikolai Kunicher, the chief executive of the Israeli company said, adding that right now there focus is diabtetes but they intend to use this technology for other diseases too. 

According to the International Diabetes Federation, over 460 million people around the world suffer from diabetes, however not all of them have been diagnosed. 

A World Health Organization (WHO) study in 2016 said diabetes was the seventh most common cause of death, ahead of road injuries.