If you or someone you love lives with type 1 diabetes, every day is built around insulin shots or pump settings. Even a short break from checking blood sugar can feel risky.
The dream has always been simple. A body that makes its own insulin again.
Ten of 12 adults in an early trial of a cell therapy called zimislecel were no longer taking insulin a year after a single treatment.
Researchers shared the update at the inaugural Breakthrough T1D Clinical and Research Congress in Philadelphia in October 2026.
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The therapy, from Vertex Pharmaceuticals, is a lab-grown version of the insulin-making islet cells that the immune system destroys in type 1 diabetes. Patients get a single infusion through a vein into the liver, along with drugs that keep the body from rejecting the new cells.
Roughly 1.5 million Americans live with type 1 diabetes, according to Breakthrough T1D. Most manage it with insulin pens, pumps and finger pricks several times a day.
What the trial actually showed
The 12 participants were adults with long-standing type 1 diabetes and a history of serious low-sugar episodes.
The full Phase 1/2 results were published in The New England Journal of Medicine in June 2025.
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At the 2026 congress, Michael Rickels of the University of Pennsylvania laid out where the trial stands today. All 12 participants have better blood sugar than before. None has had a severe low-sugar episode since day 90 after their infusion.
Across the group, the average daily insulin dose fell by 92 percent as the new cells took over.
All 12 reached a blood sugar average that major diabetes groups consider healthy. They also spent more than 70 percent of their time with blood sugar in the recommended range.
Why doctors are still cautious
This is a small, early trial. Everyone who received zimislecel also has to take medicines that quiet the immune system so it does not attack the new cells. Those drugs bring their own long-term risks, from infections to kidney strain.
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The most common side effects in the trial were diarrhea, headache and nausea. No serious side effects were linked to the therapy itself, the researchers reported.
A larger, later-stage study of zimislecel is now underway, the stage drug makers must clear before asking the Food and Drug Administration to approve a treatment. For now, the therapy is not available outside that trial.
Anyone with type 1 diabetes weighing new options should talk with their endocrinologist first.
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This article is made and published by Ida-Marie Palm Varbæk, who may have used AI in the preparation.