In this week’s issue of The Savvy Diabetic:
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- Drug that targets immune cells shows potential as new treatment for diabetic heart disease
- $3.1 Million NIH Grant to Develop Ketone-Aware Automated Insulin Delivery System
- New tech shows promise for ‘engineering’ cells to prevent type 1 diabetes
- Midsized Biotech Alliance of America (MBAA) & most-favored-nation (MFN) drug pricing policy
This is a quiet week before the 19th International Conference on Advanced Technologies and Treatments for Diabetes (ATTD 2026), taking place in Barcelona on March 11-14, 2026. The conference program features presentations and discussions led by distinguished professionals, covering a wide spectrum of innovations from artificial intelligence and glucose technology to novel therapies and prevention strategies. Expect some interesting updates in the next 2 weeks!
Drug that targets immune cells shows potential as new treatment for diabetic heart disease by Queen Mary, University of London and published by MedicalXpress.com, 27 February 2026.
Researchers from Queen Mary University of London have found that a medication originally developed for glycemic control can reverse serious heart damage—not by controlling blood sugar as originally intended, but by retraining the immune system to protect the heart from within. The findings, published this month in Nature Cardiovascular Research, reveal a previously unknown link between immune dysfunction and the metabolic deterioration seen in diabetic hearts—and point toward an entirely new class of cardiac treatment.
Diabetic cardiomyopathy develops independently of blocked coronary arteries, instead arising from a combination of chronic inflammation, metabolic dysfunction, and structural damage, which progressively stiffens and weakens the heart muscle. Patients develop diastolic dysfunction—meaning the heart struggles to relax and fill properly—leaving them increasingly vulnerable to heart failure and far more likely to suffer severe damage if they have a heart attack.
The drug AZD1656 was originally developed by AstraZeneca to improve blood sugar control in people with type 2 diabetes, but it didn’t work well for that purpose. Rather than targeting blood sugar, subsequent research revealed that the drug can rebalance the immune system by helping regulatory T (Treg) cells (a type of protective immune cell) move more effectively throughout the body.
This discovery prompted an international team of researchers, led by Professor Dunja Aksentijevic of the William Harvey Research Institute at Queen Mary University of London, to investigate whether AZD1656’s immune effects could be used to advantage in the diabetic heart. The team found that AZD1656 corrects the Treg cell imbalance and can reverse serious heart damage in diabetic patients, a completely different mechanism than any described to date. They show that AZD1656 boosts the ability of protective immune Treg cells to travel into the heart, where they calm inflammation, reduce post-infarct scarring, and—remarkably—allow the heart’s disrupted energy systems to recover almost to normal.
Read more: Drug that targets immune cells shows potential as new treatment for diabetic heart disease
William Horton, MD, Earns $3.1 Million NIH Grant to Develop Ketone-Aware Automated Insulin Delivery System by jta6n@virginia.edu for New.Med.Virginia.edu, 24 February 2026.2
A new $3.1 million grant from the NIH National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases has been awarded to William Horton, MD, associate professor of medicine in the UVA Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, to develop a ketone-aware automated insulin delivery system to enable safe use of sodium-glucose cotransporter inhibitors in people with type 1 diabetes.
The sodium-glucose cotransporter inhibitors are antihyperglycemic medications that carry significant benefits in people with diabetes, including reductions in kidney disease progression and hospitalization for heart failure. These medications have been tested in people with type 1 diabetes and shown beneficial effects on glycemic control; however, they also contribute to an increased risk of ketoacidosis that has prevented FDA approval for their use in this patient population. Dr. Horton and his colleagues will address this risk by developing a “ketone-aware” automated insulin delivery system that receives dual input from a continuous glucose + ketone sensor and subsequently optimizes glycemic control while minimizing ketosis.
Read more: Dr. William Horton $3.1 Million NIH Grant to Develop Ketone-Aware Automated Insulin Delivery System
New tech shows promise for ‘engineering’ cells to prevent type 1 diabetes by Matt Wood for UChicago.edu, 25 February 2026..
A new technology developed by scientists at the University of Chicago takes a new approach to limiting the autoimmune response by preserving insulin-producing beta cells by giving them the ability to protect themselves. In a study published in Cell Reports Medicine, researchers showed that lipid-based nanoparticles can deliver mRNA to beta cells, prompting them to express more PD-L1. This cell surface protein helps them evade the immune system.
“In this initial therapeutic proof of concept, we showed that we were able to deliver PD-L1 mRNA with our nanoparticle system, enable a delay in type 1 diabetes progression in mice, and also show potential translational relevance within human cells,” said Jacob Enriquez, a postdoctoral scholar at UChicago who led the study.
“So not only have we provided a vehicle for delivery to beta cells, which is innovative and exciting, but we’ve also shown that they can produce PD-L1 for immune protection.”
Read more: New tech shows promise for ‘engineering’ cells to prevent type 1 diabetes
Worried Trump’s MFN push will ‘destroy biotech innovation,’ midsize companies form coalition to fight back by Will Maddox for FierceBiotech.com, 25 February 2026.
In an effort to counter what members feel is an existential threat to their businesses, a group of 10 domestic biotech companies has launched the Midsized Biotech Alliance of America (MBAA), with a focus on contesting the Trump administration’s most-favored-nation (MFN) drug pricing policy.
MBAA members, including Acadia Pharmaceuticals, Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, and Travere Therapeutics, feel vulnerable to MFN, which seeks to lower U.S. drug prices by aligning them with the lowest prices paid in comparable nations. The midsized members are fearful if MFN targets their drugs, the resulting loss in profits could spell the end of their enterprises.
Introduced in May 2025 by executive order, President Donald Trump’s MFN push has so far secured drug pricing pledges from more than a dozen of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies, with those drugmakers often securing immunity from the administration’s import tariff threats in the process. While large drugmakers have taken the threat in stride, the pricing policy could introduce more severe implications for smaller-scale biopharmas.
Read more: Worried Trump’s MFN push will ‘destroy biotech innovation
