WHAT’S IN THIS ISSUE
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- Bayer’s Kerendia First Drug in 30 Years for T1D-Associated Kidney Disease
- Eversense 365 to Integrate with the iLet Bionic Pancreas
- Medtronic Begins Final Steps to Separate MiniMed
- Seeking a Fresh Start, Novo Drops the “Nordisk”
- How to Use Social Media to Enhance Diabetes Education
- Fixing the Most Overlooked Problem in Diabetes: Your Skin
- Touched by Type 1 Annual Conference — September 26
- I Can’t Sleep. Now What?
NEWS FROM T1Dto100
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- Optimizing Continuous Glucose Monitoring for Older Adults with Diabetes
- 7th International Geriatric Diabetes Workshop
- Dear Diabetes Device Companies: My Data Is Not Your Property
- This Is the Oldest Person in the World Alive Today
- Let’s Talk About Eversense CGM — T1Dto100 Open Mic Recording
- Real-World Data from U.S. Eversense 365 Users, Including with the twiist AID System
FROM OUR READERS
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- Reader Reactions to Last Week’s Savvy Updates
Bayer’s Kerendia secures FDA nod as first drug in 30 years for Type 1 diabetes-associated kidney disease
by Donavyn Coffey for FiercePharma.com, 17 September 2026
The FDA has approved Bayer’s Kerendia (finerenone) to reduce urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR), a key risk factor for worsening chronic kidney disease, in adults with CKD associated with Type 1 diabetes. The approval makes Kerendia the first new treatment in 30 years for adults with CKD associated with T1D. The decision was based on the Phase 3 FINE-ONE clinical trial of 242 adults with CKD associated with T1D. After six months, Kerendia reduced UACR by more than 25% compared with placebo, with benefits seen as early as three months.
Bayer estimates that approximately 30% of the roughly 2 million people living with T1D in the United States will develop CKD during their lifetime. According to Bayer, reducing UACR is expected to lower the risk of kidney disease progression, including declining kidney filtration and end-stage kidney disease. The FINE-ONE study builds on earlier finerenone trials in CKD associated with Type 2 diabetes, where reductions in UACR were associated with improved kidney outcomes.
SAVVY NOTE: This is REALLY important. So many of us are now living long enough with T1D to face kidney, cardiovascular and other long-term complications. I am delighted to see a therapy finally studied and approved specifically for CKD associated with Type 1 diabetes—not simply extrapolated from Type 2.
Read more: Pharma Bayer’s Kerendia secures FDA nod as first drug in 30 years for T1D-associated kidney disease
Senseonics and Beta Bionics have announced plans to integrate the Eversense 365 implantable CGM with the iLet Bionic Pancreas
by BioSpace.com, 14 September 2026
Senseonics and Beta Bionics announced a partnership to integrate the one-year Eversense 365 continuous glucose monitor with the iLet Bionic Pancreas automated insulin delivery system. The companies describe the goal as pairing year-long glucose sensing with iLet’s adaptive insulin-delivery technology. The iLet system autonomously determines and delivers insulin doses and does not require conventional carbohydrate counting, although users must remain “carb aware.
”Senseonics expects development of the Eversense 365-iLet integration to be completed during the fourth quarter of 2026. Commercial launch is planned following completion of integration, required testing and validation, and applicable regulatory requirements. Eversense 365 is an implantable CGM approved for up to 365 days of use in adults with diabetes. Its implanted sensor communicates with a removable smart transmitter worn over the sensor, which sends glucose data every five minutes to a smartphone app.
SAVVY NOTE: More choices!!! Eversense already integrates with twiist, and now iLet is coming. One of the things I heard loud and clear during our T1Dto100 Eversense discussion last week is that there simply isn’t ONE CGM/pump combination that is right for everyone. More interoperability gives us more opportunity to find what works for OUR bodies and OUR lives.
Read more: Senseonics Joins Beta Bionics to Integrate ES 365 with iLet Bionic Pancreas
Medtronic begins final steps to separate MiniMed
by Elise Reuter for MedTechDive.com, 14 September 2026
MiniMed went public in March as the first part of a two-step separation from Medtronic. Medtronic has now launched an exchange offer to divest up to 80.1% of MiniMed’s shares. At the time of the announcement, Medtronic still owned 89.9% of the company. The exchange offer is scheduled to expire October 9.
For people with diabetes, what’s perhaps more interesting is what independence may mean for MiniMed’s future product development. MiniMed has already submitted its first patch pump to the FDA and completed enrollment in a trial of an algorithm designed to calculate insulin needs without meal announcements.
MiniMed CEO Que Dallara said independence gives the company greater autonomy over its capital, product roadmap and speed.
SAVVY NOTE: I’ll be watching what this means for innovation. Diabetes technology is moving VERY quickly, and an independent company focused entirely on diabetes may have different priorities—and potentially greater agility—than a diabetes division inside a huge medical-device company.
Read more: Medtronic final steps to separate MiniMed
Seeking a fresh start, Novo drops the ‘Nordisk’
by Anna Brown for Endpoints News, 14 September 2026
Novo Nordisk is shortening the name it uses publicly to simply Novo as part of a broader brand and corporate-culture reset. The company unveiled a new brand centered on the phrase “Lasting Health Starts Now” and an updated corporate culture it calls “The Novo Way.” Novo said the changes are intended to help the company move with greater focus, speed and impact.
CEO Mike Doustdar said the company has transformed areas of healthcare including diabetes and obesity but that unmet need remains substantial and patients’ expectations of healthcare are changing. The formal company name remains Novo Nordisk A/S; the change concerns the brand and the name the company uses publicly.
SAVVY NOTE: Those of us who have lived with diabetes for a VERY long time may have trouble dropping “Nordisk”! Novo Nordisk—and the insulin companies that preceded it—have been part of diabetes history for generations.
Read more: NOVO DROPS THE ‘NORDISK’
How to use social media to enhance diabetes education
by Michael Monostra for Healio.com/endocrinology, 3 September 2026
Diabetes care and education specialists can use social media to disseminate credible diabetes information and develop closer connections with people living with diabetes. The discussion emphasizes the importance of diabetes professionals being present in online spaces where people with diabetes already seek and share information.
Social media can extend diabetes education beyond traditional office visits and provide opportunities for education, communication, and connection. At the same time, healthcare professionals need to consider the credibility and accuracy of the information being shared. The broader goal is not to replace the clinician-patient relationship, but to use social media as another tool for diabetes education and engagement.
SAVVY NOTE: Well, THIS certainly speaks to me! So much of what I’ve learned over decades with T1D has come from the combination of medical professionals, researchers AND other people living with diabetes. Social media can spread misinformation—but it can also create extraordinary communities for sharing experience and education. That’s certainly what we’ve seen with both The Savvy Diabetic and T1Dto100.
Read more: How to Use Social Media to Enhane Diabetes Education
Fixing the Most Overlooked Problem in Diabetes: Your Skin
by Stacey Simms for Diabetes Connections, 3 March 2026
“Why don’t we talk about our skin more?!” In this Diabetes Connections podcast, Stacey Simms talks with Marie Schiller and Kent Manson about the repeated toll that diabetes management can take on the skin—from needles and injections to infusion sets and CGM sensors. The discussion includes SiteHero, a recovery patch intended to help diabetes device and injection sites heal.
Schiller and Manson are also working on technology that could allow people to scan an area of the body at home to help identify better locations for injections or infusion sites. The conversation focuses on both the immediate problem of helping frequently used sites recover and the longer-term goal of identifying healthier areas for future diabetes-device placement.
SAVVY NOTE: After decades of injections, pump sites and CGMs, we can accumulate a LOT of wear and tear. Skin isn’t just where we stick our diabetes technology—it is part of making that technology work.
Touched by Type 1 Annual Conference
Saturday, September 26, 2026, at the Hilton Orlando in Orlando, Florida
The Touched by Type 1 Annual Conference is a free conference for people of all ages and backgrounds whose lives are touched by Type 1 diabetes. The conference’s goal is to educate, encourage and empower people living with T1D as well as family members, caregivers, friends and healthcare professionals.
The program includes education from T1D professionals and speakers, an exhibitor hall featuring diabetes technology, medical devices and other resources, and opportunities to connect with others in the T1D community.
Cost: Free; registration required.
Click here to REGISTER for the Touched by TYPE 1 Conference
I Can’t Sleep. Now What?
by Dani Blum for NYTImes.com, 7 July 2025
This isn’t specifically a diabetes article—but almost everyone has had one of THOSE nights. You wake up at 2 or 3 a.m. Your brain turns on. You look at the clock. Then you start calculating how little sleep you’re going to get—which, of course, makes getting back to sleep even harder.
The New York Times interactive guide offers practical approaches for those middle-of-the-night periods when sleep just isn’t happening.
And for those of us with diabetes, sleep can have another layer: alarms, glucose changes, devices—and the temptation to check just ONE more thing before trying to fall asleep again.
Read the Interactive Guide: I Can’t Sleep. Now What? (May require a New York Times subscription)
NEWS FROM T1Dto100
Optimizing CGM for Older Adults
Research by Tong Yang, Jinghao Cai, Jiaying Ni, Jingyi Lu and Jian Zhou, published by Journals.SagePub.com, 3 September 2026. https://doi.org/10.1177/15209156261485635
Older adults with diabetes frequently experience hypoglycemia, glucose variability, multiple medical conditions, frailty and other treatment-related vulnerabilities that A1C alone does not fully capture. The researchers reviewed evidence on CGM use in older adults, including clinical outcomes, patient and caregiver experiences, barriers to sustained use and practical implementation.
For older adults with T1D, randomized evidence most consistently shows that CGM reduces exposure to hypoglycemia and time below range. CGM can also reveal nighttime hypoglycemia, glucose variability and post-meal patterns that intermittent glucose testing may miss. But successful CGM use depends on more than the performance of the sensor itself. The researchers identify usability, skin tolerability, education, alert burden, caregiver workflows, digital literacy, cost and equitable access as factors affecting sustained use.
They propose a geriatric CGM pathway that includes assessment of risk and functional status, individualized glucose goals and alerts, education, caregiver support where needed, and early follow-up. The authors also call for future research that includes frail and cognitively impaired older adults and looks beyond A1C to outcomes including severe hypoglycemia, falls, treatment burden, caregiver burden, acute-care use and quality of life.
T1Dto100 NOTE: YES!!! This is exactly the conversation we need. “Can an older person use CGM?” is the wrong question. We need to ask what support, settings, education, caregivers and technology will allow each older adult to use it safely and successfully.
Read the research: Optimizing Continuous Glucose Monitoring for Older Adults with Diabetes
7th Annual Workshop: International Geriatric Diabetes Society
11-13 November 2026, Boston, Massachusetts — in person and virtual registration
The International Geriatric Diabetes Society’s annual workshop is specifically focused on diabetes and aging. The program brings together clinicians, researchers, patients and care partners to address the increasing complexity of diabetes care in older populations. The meeting includes scientific presentations and discussions involving therapeutic advances, cognitive and functional considerations, patient-centered care and models for caring for older adults with diabetes.
The International Geriatric Diabetes Society describes its mission as improving the health and well-being of older adults living with diabetes through patient- and care-partner-centered research, education and advocacy.
T1Dto100 NOTE: THIS is why I’m going to Boston! An entire scientific meeting devoted to aging and diabetes—and bringing patients and care partners into the conversation—is exactly where T1Dto100 belongs. It’s my third year in attendance and just as exciting as ever!
Registration and details: https://www.geriatricdiabetes.org/meetings/
View the Agenda: 7th Annual IGDS Workshop Agenda
Dear Diabetes Device Companies: My DATA is NOT Your PROPERTY
by Derek Brandt for Diabetes Center Berne, 8 September 2026
Derek Brandt’s commentary focuses on ownership and control of the data generated by diabetes devices. CGMs, insulin pumps and connected diabetes platforms continually generate highly personal health information. Brandt argues that the people who generate those data should retain meaningful control over how the information is accessed and used.
The commentary raises broader questions about data portability, access and the relationship between people with diabetes and the companies whose devices and software collect their information.
T1Dto100 NOTE: This becomes even more complicated as we age. We may WANT spouses, adult children, caregivers or healthcare professionals to see our data—but WE should be able to decide who gets it and how easily we can move it from one system to another.
Read Derek Brandt’s Commentary: My DATA is NOT Your PROPERTY
This is the Oldest Person in the World Alive Today
by Toby Saunders for ScienceFocus.com, 6 September 2026
The world’s oldest verified living person, as of September 2026, is Ethel Caterham of the United Kingdom, age 117. Caterham was born August 21, 1909, in Hampshire, England, during the reign of Edward VII. She now lives in a nursing home in Lightwater, Surrey. The article puts her extraordinary age in context by comparing it with average life expectancy in the United Kingdom, United States and worldwide.
The verified record for the longest human life still belongs to Jeanne Louise Calment of France, who lived to 122 years and 164 days.
Science Focus also looks back at other supercentenarians—people who have lived to at least age 110—and the remarkably small group who have reached 117 and beyond.
T1Dto100 NOTE: Of COURSE an article about a 117-year-old caught my attention! 😊 But T1Dto100 isn’t really about reaching a number. It’s about how we preserve health, independence, function, connection and JOY for as many of those years as possible.
Read more: This is the Oldest Person in the World Alive Today
Let’s Talk about Eversense CGM, T1Dto100 Open Mic Recording, 16 September 2026
Eversense 365 is the one-year implantable continuous glucose monitoring system now available in the United States. Our T1Dto100 Open Mic brought together both the clinical/scientific perspective and real-life experience.
Dr. Fran Kaufman, Chief Medical Officer of Senseonics, discussed Eversense accuracy and reliability, user data, current technology and future development. And Ginger Vieira—author, speaker, fitness coach and diabetes content specialist who has lived with T1D for more than 25 years—shared her experience during her second year using Eversense and her recent move from MDI to the twiist insulin pump integrated with Eversense.
LOTS of information and lived experience packed into one little—but power-packed—hour.
Real-World Data from U.S. Comercial Users of the 365-Day Implantable Eversense CGM, including with the twiist AID System
by Francine Kaufman, MD, Ishaan Jain, Shaoling Han and Colleen Mdingi — published by Journals.SagePub.com, 8 September 2026 https://doi.org/10.1177/15209156261486125,
Researchers analyzed deidentified glucose data from the first 12,360 Eversense 365 sensors used with open-loop therapy in the United States. Among these users, mean sensor glucose was 161 mg/dL, glucose management indicator (GMI) was 7.16%, and mean time in range (70–180 mg/dL) was 66.2%. Median transmitter wear time was 93%. Glycemic outcomes remained stable when the first and second 180-day periods were compared.
The researchers also analyzed 153 sensors with more than 30 days of data following pairing with the twiist automated insulin-delivery system. With twiist + Eversense 365, mean sensor glucose was 145 mg/dL, GMI was 6.78%, and time in range was 76.1%. Median transmitter wear time was 99%.
The authors conclude that the large real-world dataset showed high adherence and sustained glucose outcomes during extended Eversense 365 wear, while the early twiist data support use of the implantable CGM as part of an automated insulin-delivery system.
T1Dto100 NOTE: I especially appreciate seeing REAL-WORLD data—not only clinical-trial data. And with a mean age of 57 among the open-loop users, this is also particularly interesting to those of us looking at diabetes technology through the lens of aging.
FROM OUR READERS
Your thoughts, experiences and reactions to recent Savvy stories
I LOVE hearing from readers—especially when you agree, disagree, challenge something we’ve published, or add decades of lived experience that doesn’t fit neatly into a research paper. Here are a few responses to last week’s Savvy Updates. Comments have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
RICK PHILLIPS: Rick reacted to our story suggesting that T1D may include biologically distinct subtypes. His own experience is part of what makes the idea compelling to him.
Rick says he spent more than 30 years inadequately managing his diabetes, including a period when his A1C was in the 12s. Yet decades later, he has had considerably fewer complications than he believes that history would predict. Meanwhile, he has watched others who managed their diabetes diligently develop serious complications.
That leaves him wondering whether differences among our bodies—their protective mechanisms, disease pathways, genetics or something researchers haven’t yet identified—may help explain why outcomes can be so different among people who seemingly have the same disease.
SAVVY RESPONSE: Rick, this is precisely the fascinating question. Your experience doesn’t prove there are two forms of T1D—but it illustrates beautifully WHY researchers are looking beyond glucose exposure alone to understand the enormous variation in complications and outcomes.
Rick also had thoughts about the ADA controversy: despite his criticism of how events were handled, he wants the conflict resolved because, as he puts it, “We need the ADA to work, not be broken.”
And finally, regarding our story about the muscle ability we lose fastest with age: Rick reports that his wife believes the muscle HE has lost is the one that enables him to keep his mouth shut ……. We’ll leave that medical hypothesis to future research. 😂
DAN HELLER: Dan challenged two of last week’s stories—and I’m glad he did.
Regarding the SGLT inhibitor article, Dan correctly points out that what we linked was a Perspective, not a report of new clinical-trial results. His concern is that enthusiasm for the potential kidney and cardiovascular benefits of SGLT inhibition in T1D must be balanced against the very real risk of diabetic ketoacidosis—including euglycemic DKA.
He also challenged the excitement surrounding Kura/Caspian’s work on stimulating beta-cell proliferation. Dan’s central question is an important one: Even if we can make more beta cells, what prevents the autoimmune process that destroyed the original cells from attacking the new ones?
That is one of the fundamental challenges facing beta-cell regeneration and replacement research.
SAVVY RESPONSE: Thank you, Dan. One of the reasons I publish Savvy is to start conversations—not end them. Early-stage research and company announcements need to be recognized for what they are, and thoughtful scientific skepticism belongs in the discussion.
ROGER SPARKS: Roger was particularly troubled by our coverage of the ADA controversy and wrote that scientific discussion and differing perspectives should not be blocked by politics.
But he also brought an extraordinary personal perspective to our GLP-1 discussion. Roger has lived with T1D for 35 years, followed by 11 years after an islet transplant without insulin. He is now using Mounjaro along with a very small amount of long-acting insulin and reports that Mounjaro has helped him dramatically.
His message ended with a lovely note: “Thank you for once again publishing diabetes topics that impact lives and make our lives better.”
Thank YOU, Rick, Rick and Roger —for reading closely enough to challenge, question, laugh and respond.
