Right Turn: Stem Cell Diabetes Treatment Looking Sweet

.

It’s nice to end the week on a happy note. For a company like CCRM that commercializes regenerative medicine products and therapies, the news that ViaCyte, a company based in San Diego, California, has applied to the FDA to start clinical trials for its Type 1 diabetes treatment is good news for the industry.

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease in which a person’s pancreas stops producing insulin, a hormone that enables people to get energy from food. It occurs when the body’s immune system attacks and destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, called beta cells. While its causes are not yet entirely understood, scientists believe that both genetic factors and environmental triggers are involved. According to JDRF, nearly 26 million Americans, 85 per cent of them adults, have Type 1 diabetes. Around the world, that number increases to more than 371 million and it is expected to grow to 552 million by 2030.

Good luck to ViaCyte and congratulations to our friends at the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) for funding this important research to the tune of $39 million.

Our regular feature, Right Turn, showcases the “lighter” side of stem cells and regenerative medicine. Every Friday, we will bring you cartoons, photos, videos and other content that may be just as thought provoking as the written submissions that you are used to finding here, but they definitely won’t be blogs.

As always, we welcome your feedback and we also welcome suitable submissions. Be creative! Use the right (!) side of your brain. Make us laugh! Let’s see if we can make this new direction a positive one for all of us. Send your submission to info(at)ccrm.ca.

The following two tabs change content below.

• Bio
• Latest Posts

Stacey Johnson

Stacey Johnson is the editor of Signals and a contributor. For 25 years, Stacey has been providing strategic communications counsel to government, corporate, technology and health organizations. She began her career at the CTV Television Network and then moved to Hill & Knowlton Canada where she advised clients in a variety of industries and sectors. Stacey is the Vice President, Communications and Marketing for CCRM, a leader in developing and commercializing regenerative medicine-based technologies and cell and gene therapies. She has a Master's degree in Public Relations. You can follow her on Twitter @msstaceyerin.

Latest posts by Stacey Johnson (see all)

• Right Turn: Beyond the ’stache: The science, the progress, the promise - November 26, 2025
• Right Turn: Can Bryan Johnson live forever? Will regenerative medicine help him do so? - October 10, 2025
• Right Turn: #pinksocks, diabetes news and other ramblings - June 24, 2025