Vaccine for type 1 diabetes to go on trial across UK

SCIENTISTS have said a vaccine for type 1 diabetes could be developed within a generation.

Researchers at several UK universities are to carry out tests and trials of prototype jabs as part of a £4.4 million project.

They estimate the first working vaccines to help delay or possibly prevent type 1 diabetes, which affects about 300,000 people in the UK, could be available in the next 10 years.

Dr Alasdair Rankin, Diabetes UK’s director of research, said: “This research is hugely exciting because it has the potential to transform the lives of hundreds of thousands of people living with type 1 diabetes, as well as leading us towards a longedfor cure.”

People with type 1 diabetes, the type most common in children, are unable to produce the hormone insulin and require daily injections, a healthy diet and regular exercise.

The research, funded by Diabetes UK, Tesco and JDRF, is being announced at Diabetes UK’s annual Professional Conference at London’s ExCeL centre and will consist of four studies carried out and analysed by UK universities.

Dr Rankin added: “Today, type 1 diabetes is an unavoidable condition with a huge impact on the lives of more than 300,000 people in the UK.

“These studies will take us a long way towards changing that, bringing us closer than ever to preventing and ultimately curing the condition.

“None of this will be easy or happen overnight. The first vaccines will probably help people to delay the onset of type 1 diabetes rather than preventing it entirely.”