Posted to my T1D FB group and copied here, as I know there are many affected by T1 on CB.

✅I just talked to Dr. Christof Westenfelder for an hour on the phone. He is the CEO of Symbio Cell Tech and professor at the University of Utah school of Medicine.

✅He is one step closer to a cure for Type 1 diabetes as demonstrated by winning the “Innovation Challenge” award at this year’s American Diabetes Associations’ Scientific Meeting in Orlando, FL.

⭐️His approach is different from all the other companies working on a cure for Type 1. His approach is to combine islet cells with protective mesenchymal stem cells in a 50/50 mixture called “Neo-Islets” without using any immunosuppression or encapsulation device. He has cured several dogs with actual autoimmune induced T1 already. His company hoping to start human trials mid 2025. This procedure takes 15 min to do under some local anesthetic and ultrasound. Very promising and exciting approach!

He says insurance companies have already expressed interest in paying for this therapy. There is also retrievability available if ever needed by cutting the cells out of the omentum. The FDA loves this.

More details that I personally got from Dr. Westenfelder:

⭐️His approach is to combine islet cells with protective mesenchymal stem cells in a 50/50 mixture called “Neo-Islets” without using any immunosuppression or encapsulation device. these mesenchymal stem cells have a protective effect on the islet cells.

⭐️He has cured several dogs with actual autoimmune induced T1 Diabetes.

⭐️2-3% of everyone’s islet cells have mesenchymal stem cells that monitor the health of the cells for oxidative stress, etc. In T1D, the immune attack damages these cells so they can’t do their job.

⭐️The 50/50 ratio of mesenchymal stem cells to islet cells was on purpose. Many different ratios were tested out, and this is the ratio that performed the best. Every capillary has mesenchymal stem cells in it.

⭐️The average T1 diabetic needs .5-1 units/kg/day of insulin. The neo-islets are producing 1.2 units/kg/day.

⭐️The average A1c of the dogs they cured dropped from 10.2 to 4.8.

⭐️ They tested T1 dogs that are 1 year old to 12 years old on purpose to simulate older adults and younger children. The results were positive, regardless of the age.

⭐️ It took an average of only 6 weeks for the dogs to have a normal A1c.

⭐️They have one more 6 month trial to do with two more dogs in Layton Utah, then they will apply for an IND to begin human trials in mid 2025. Funding can always impact this timeline. 

⭐️They plan to treat 15 humans in phase 1/2. There are several sites that will be participating in phase 3 trials.

🧫One of you asked how long mesenchymal stem cells survive outside of the body. I asked him that question directly, and this was his reply: MSCs are routinely cultured outside the body. They are cryopreserved for later use. They are thawed out, characterized biologically and per Gene expression profiles. As needed for many regenerative medicine applications, they are release tested and administered therapeutically, as we do. In our technology, MSCs accompany culture expanded islet cells which they durably protect, as we discussed and as we extensively published. Only when these cells are mishandled in culture will they fail to survive.

⭐️⭐️⭐️I’ve had several people ask how they can sign up to be in this trial. This is his reply:

I am maintaining a Hippa compliant wait list for our clinical trial. Interested individuals can email me the following completely confidential information:
Name, age, duration of T1DM, daily dose of insulin, complications and an email or phone # for communication/updates.

His email:

C.westenfelder@symbiocelltech.com

✅ I’m very hopeful about this trial. It is a completely different approach than any other company is taking, and the fact that it does not require encapsulation or immuno-suppression is extremely encouraging. Even if I had to take my daughter for a new injection of this therapy every year, I would be more than happy to do that. But it seems these Neo-islets haven’t shown any signs of dying so far in the 4 year trial with dogs.