It's In the News.. a look at the top headlines and stories in the diabetes community. This week's top stories: kids' A1C and tech access correlation, first generic GLP-1 for weight loss approved, Metformin cuts long covid risk, Tandem Diabetes & Eversense updates, and more! Find out more about Moms' Night Out Please visit our Sponsors & Partners - they help make the show possible! Learn more about Gvoke Glucagon Gvoke HypoPen® (glucagon injection): Glucagon Injection For Very Low Blood Sugar (gvokeglucagon.com) Omnipod - Simplify Life Learn about Dexcom Check out VIVI Cap to protect your insulin from extreme temperatures The best way to keep up with Stacey and the show is by signing up for our weekly newsletter: Sign up for our newsletter here Here's where to find us: Facebook (Group) Facebook (Page) Instagram Twitter Check out Stacey's books! Learn more about everything at our home page www.diabetes-connections.com Reach out with questions or comments: info@diabetes-connections.com Episode transcription with links: Hello and welcome to Diabetes Connections In the News! I’m Stacey Simms and every other Friday I bring you a short episode with the top diabetes stories and headlines happening now. XX Accessibility to modern diabetes technology directly correlates with A1c among children with type 1 diabetes globally. Big, cross-sectional study, conducted in 81 pediatric diabetes centers in 56 countries, found that a greater extent of reimbursement for continuous glucose monitoring (CGM), insulin pumps, glucose meters, and insulin was associated with lower A1c levels. Partha S. Kar, MD, Type 1 Diabetes & Technology lead of the National Health Service England, told Medscape Medical News, “As is now being shown in countries such as UK with widespread uptake of technology, there is now population-wide shift in A1c not seen before.” He added, “If policymakers are serious about bringing A1c at a population level to sub-7.5% - 8% levels, then without technology it would be incredibly difficult to achieve, in my experience and opinion. Leaving the median A1c of a population at above 7.5%-8% goes with complications so that’s a decision regarding investment many will have to make in the near future.” In an accompanying editorial, Elizabeth R. Seaquist, MD, professor of diabetes, endocrinology, and metabolism and co-director of the Institute for Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, called it “striking” that access to technology in and of itself was associated with improved glycemic control, given that multidisciplinary team care is also needed to provide education and behavioral or psychological support. https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/diabetes-tech-access-linked-a1c-kids-t1d-globally-2025a1000nn6 XX A man with type 1 in Illinois has received the first FDA-approved islet-cell replacement treatment, Lantidra, and he is now producing his own insulin. The treatment works by restoring the body’s beta cells, potentially eliminating the need for insulin injections. The FDA approved Lantidra (donislecel) in 2023. Lantidra uses donor cells and requires lifelong immunosuppressive drugs. Lantidra is only available at University of Illinois Chicago Health. Other universities, such as the University of Pennsylvania, continue to do islet cell transplants as part of clinical trials. Early data has shown that a majority of participants in the Lantidra clinical study were able to achieve some level of insulin independence, but it’s unclear whether the benefits of donislecel outweigh the treatment’s safety risks. Nearly 87 percent of participants reported infection-related adverse events, and post-operation complications included liver lacerations, bruising of the liver (hepatic hematoma), and anemia. One patient died of multi-organ failure from sepsis, which Lantidra maker CellTrans stated was “probably related” to the use of either immunosuppression or study drugs. In addition, some industry leaders have raised the question of whether it’s ethical to commercialize the use of deceased donor islet cells. https://diatribe.org/diabetes-research/first-fda-approved-islet-cell-transplant-performed?utm_campaign=feed&utm_medium=social&utm_source=later XX Patients in the U.S. now have access to the first generic GLP-1 treatment approved for weight loss as Teva has launched its copycat of Novo Nordisk’s injected Saxenda (liraglutide). The compound, which is a GLP-1 forerunner of Novo’s semaglutide products Ozempic and Wegovy, has been approved by the FDA to treat adults with obesity and those who are overweight and have weight-related medical problems. Saxenda also is endorsed for pediatric patients ages 12 through 17 who are obese and weigh at least 60 kg (132 pounds). The treatment is for both triggering and maintaining weight loss. Saxenda is not the first GLP-1 drug that is available as a generic. In June of last year, Teva also was the first company to launch a knockoff version of Novo’s Victoza, which is the same compound as Saxenda but has been approved only for patients with Type 2 diabetes. Sales of the branded versions of both Victoza and Saxenda have declined significantly in recent years as demand for Novo’s semaglutide and Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide products have skyrocketed. In addition, marketers of compounded products have been aggressively competing for market share in the GLP-1 space. https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/saxenda-knockoff-teva-launches-first-generic-glp-1-obesity XX Metformin could cut the risk of Long COVID by 64% in overweight or obese adults who started the drug within 90 days of infection. The large observational study, published in Clinical Infectious Diseases, analysed health records of over 624,000 UK adults with COVID-19 between March 2020 and July 2023. Among these, nearly 3,000 patients who began metformin treatment soon after diagnosis were tracked for a year. Compared to non-users, their likelihood of developing Long COVID, defined as persistent symptoms 90 days or more after infection, was dramatically lower. https://www.ndtv.com/health/metformin-cuts-risk-of-long-covid-by-64-why-the-diabetes-pill-is-not-for-everyone-9242332 XX Forty-four percent of people age 15 and older living with diabetes are undiagnosed, so they don’t know they have it, according to data analysis published Monday in the journal The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology. The study looked at data from 204 countries and territories from 2000 to 2023 in a systematic review of published literature and surveys. “The majority of people with diabetes that we report on in the study have type 2 diabetes,” said Lauryn Stafford , the lead author of the study. “We found that 56% of people with diabetes are aware that they have the condition,” said Stafford, a researcher for the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. “Globally, there’s a lot of variation geographically, and also by age. So, generally, higher-income countries were doing better at diagnosing people than low- and middle-income countries.” People under 35 years were much less likely to be diagnosed if they had diabetes than people in middle age or older. Just “20% of young adults with diabetes were aware of their condition,” Stafford said. https://www.cnn.com/2025/09/08/health/diabetes-undiagnosed-half-of-americans-wellness XX A team of Hong Kong scientists is developing an injectable treatment that could potentially improve blood flow in diabetes patients’ feet, in the hopes that it will reduce the need for amputation by rebuilding tissue in the arteries. They also hope to apply the treatment to peripheral artery disease or PAD, a condition caused by the build-up of fatty deposits in arteries that affect blood circulation in the feet. “Traditional treatments for people suffering from poor blood flow in their legs are stent implantation or bypass surgery, which is invasive,” said Wong, who is also the co-founder of a biotechnology company called NutrigeneAI. He said it was his dream to turn research in the academic field into actual clinical treatments. But he added that the team still needed three to four years for further research on the treatment. https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3324671/hong-kong-scientists-developing-new-blood-flow-treatment-aid-diabetes-patients XX Tandem Diabetes announces Health Canada authorization for distribution of the Tandem t:slim mobile application for Android and iPhone users. The Tandem t:slim mobile app allows users to deliver a bolus from their compatible smartphone, and to wirelessly upload their pump data to the cloud-based Tandem Source platform.1 The app is expected to be available later this year. The Tandem t:slim mobile app will be available for compatible smartphones in the Apple App Store and Google Play store later in 2025. Once available, Tandem will email eligible customers with instructions on how to download and use the app. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250904665715/en/Tandem-tslim-Mobile-App-Now-Authorized-by-Health-Canada-for-iPhone-and-Android-Phones XX Some changes to how the Eversense CGM will be rolled out.. right now it’s being distributed by Ascensia Diabetes Care. Senseonics will take back commercial control of the year long implantable CGM on January 1 in the US and expanding worldwide throughout 2026. The change was a mutual decision, according to the two companies, which said they have signed a memorandum of understanding before a definitive agreement is hammered out by the end of the year. To get started, Senseonics is also set to acquire members of Ascensia’s commercial staff—including its CGM president, Brian Hansen, who is sl
