First ever oral drug for Type 1 diabetes

Most people with diabetes have Type 2 diabetes, with an assortment of drugs at their disposal. But somewhere between one-point-five and three million Americans are living with Type 1 diabetes and their only drug option, insulin, is what keeps them alive.

Now, in a world’s first, a new oral drug for this disease could change the way they manage their disease.

As a Type 1 diabetic, Claire Pegg has checked her blood sugar levels many more times than she can count.

“There is so much judgement with every minute of the treatment,” Pegg said. “You are good or you are bad because your blood sugar is whatever it is.”

Hitting the target A1C level, a measurement of blood sugar control, is difficult … often impossible.

Satish Garg, MD, an Endocrinologist at Barbara Davis Center for Diabetes, University of Colorado Denver said, “70 percent of the people in the us do not achieve target A1Cs.”

That means a higher risk of long-term complications like heart, nerve and kidney disease. Now, a new drug could make reaching that target easier.

“For people with type one diabetes, this may be the biggest breakthrough that they’ll see,” Dr. Garg said.

The drug, called sotagliflozin, blocks the re-absorption of sugar in the kidneys and delays absorption of glucose from the gut. Patients lose sugar in the urine, which means less in their blood.

“It is a big deal,” Dr. Garg said.

Researchers found a two-fold increase in the number of patients who reached the target A1C level while on the drug. There are other benefits too.

“People lose about 3-to-4-percent of their body weight,” Dr. Garg said. “In addition, about 10-to-15-percent reduction in insulin dose.”

If it’s approved, it will be the first oral drug for type one diabetes … ever.

While in the study, Pegg’s A1C level dropped well into that target range. She also lost 20 pounds.

“It’s … it’s incredible,” Pegg said. “It’s absolutely incredible.”

She hopes the FDA thinks so too: “I will have script in hand and waiting to get my hands on it. I just, I can’t wait.”

Before insulin was discovered in 1921, Type 1 diabetes was a death sentence. There have been many advances in technology that have drastically improved the lives of people with the disease, but new drugs to treat it have been nonexistent. It’s important to note that this drug will not replace insulin.