# Trial: first human implants of stem-cell-issued beta cells
**URL:** https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/trial-first-human-implants-of-stem-cell-issued-beta-cells/6592
**Category:** T1 Research
**Tags:** cure
**Created:** [February 14, 2019, 10:29am UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/trial-first-human-implants-of-stem-cell-issued-beta-cells/6592 "2019-02-14T10:29:42Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Michel](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Michel)
#### Post date: [February 14, 2019, 10:29am UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/trial-first-human-implants-of-stem-cell-issued-beta-cells/6592/1 "2019-02-14T10:29:42Z")
This European trial uses ViaCyte’s stem cell line product PEC Direct, and has started implanting them in human subjects:
[dLife.com](http://dLife.com): First Human Trial of Stem Cell-derived Implants Underway in Type 1 Diabetes in Europe.
[https://dlife.com/first-human-trial-of-stem-cell-derived-implants-underway-in-type-1-diabetes-in-europe/](https://dlife.com/first-human-trial-of-stem-cell-derived-implants-underway-in-type-1-diabetes-in-europe/)
My notes:
- This is a generic stem cell line, so it needs to use immuno-suppressants
- The implantations are in “subtherapeutic doses” so they are not expect to suppress use for insulin, only reduce it.
- Still, great interest if this was made available at reasonable cost, since the cadaver-based “City of Hope” transplants are the only known “cure” I am aware of.
PEC Direct:
> **[PEC-Direct™](https://viacyte.com/products/pec-direct)**
>
> PEC-Direct™ - Treating High-risk Type 1 Diabetes
> The PEC-Direct™ product candidate delivers stem cell-derived PEC-01™ pancreatic progenitor cells in a device designed to allow direct vascularization of the cells, and is being developed for patients...
I did find a press release from Viacyte dated mid 2017 saying they had started a US implant trial:
> **[ViaCyte Announces First Patients Implanted with PEC-Direct Islet Cell...](https://viacyte.com/archives/press-releases/viacyte-announces-first-patients-implanted-with-pec-direct-islet-cell-replacement-therapy-in-international-clinical-trial)**
>
> San Diego, August 1, 2017 — ViaCyte, Inc., a privately-held, leading regenerative medicine company, announced today that the first patients have been implanted with the PEC-Direct™ product candidate, a novel islet cell replacement therapy in...
To me, the most significant change in this direction will be when it is possible to grow replacement beta cells from the patient herself. The auto-immune issue remains.
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### Author:  [@TomH](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/TomH)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2023, 10:56pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/trial-first-human-implants-of-stem-cell-issued-beta-cells/6592/2 "2023-12-09T22:56:25Z")
Saw this today: [Under-the-skin implant could treat Type I diabetes | Cornell Chronicle](https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2023/12/under-skin-implant-could-treat-type-i-diabetes?utm_source=join1440&utm_medium=email&utm_placement=newsletter&fbclid=IwAR0cpVpiNeiugyi77AaJbt24KwDj42sEacaX8sNP9KyRBtEZ_qhTEhC5Ji4)
Seems similar to Vertex work, but with a different method of application. Here’s hoping some of us get to help with their work or the results of it!
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### Author:  [@Eric](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/Eric)
#### Post date: [December 9, 2023, 11:17pm UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/trial-first-human-implants-of-stem-cell-issued-beta-cells/6592/3 "2023-12-09T23:17:06Z")
I saw your post and something made me laugh.
You are perhaps familiar with the cure being “only 5 years away”. I first heard that 50 years ago!
So just seeing this today made me chuckle…
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### Author:  [@TomH](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/u/TomH)
#### Post date: [December 10, 2023, 11:53am UTC](https://forum.fudiabetes.org/t/trial-first-human-implants-of-stem-cell-issued-beta-cells/6592/4 "2023-12-10T11:53:26Z")
I’ve come to feel the same way in the couple of years I’ve been T1! I’m just optimistic enough to still hold out hope someone reading these posts (admittedly a young person, if not a child) will benefit from studies like this! “Progress” is fits and starts, mostly incremental change, but with moments of shear terror and marvelous successes!