JDRF Applauds Launch of New Low Glucose Suspend Technology

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Sep 27, 2013, 03:04 ET

Medtronic Product 'a First Step Toward an Artificial Pancreas'

WASHINGTON, Sept. 27, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- JDRF, the leading global organization funding type 1 diabetes (T1D) research, today applauded the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its commitment to ensuring patients in the United States can access insulin pumps that can temporarily stop insulin delivery once sensor glucose levels fall below a predetermined threshold. This morning, Medtronic announced FDA approval of its MiniMed 530G with Enlite system (sold outside the United States as the Veo since 2009).

"This approval means people with type 1 diabetes will have access to technologies on par with the rest of the world," said Jeffrey Brewer, president and CEO of JDRF. "We appreciate all that the FDA and Medtronic have done to bring this system to people with type 1 diabetes in the U.S., and look forward to working with researchers, regulators, and the private sector to accelerate the delivery of even more impactful improvements in technology to more effectively manage the disease."

JDRF continues to work with Medtronic and other industry and academic partners on a series of advances that will one day lead to a fully automated, closed-loop system that can truly be called an artificial pancreas. On the way to that goal, approaches to preventing hypoglycemia and implementing fully closed-loop control overnight have been demonstrated to work in outpatient clinical trials funded by JDRF and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). JDRF is committed to continuing its efforts well beyond this meaningful first step in automation by working with the FDA and medical device companies to accelerate these life-improving, and in some cases lifesaving, technologies for people with T1D.

About JDRF

JDRF is the leading global organization funding type 1 diabetes (T1D) research. JDRF's goal is to progressively remove the impact of T1D from people's lives until we achieve a world without T1D. JDRF collaborates with a wide spectrum of partners and is the only organization with the scientific resources, regulatory influence, and a working plan to better treat, prevent, and eventually cure T1D.

As the largest charitable supporter of T1D research, JDRF is currently sponsoring $530 million in scientific research in 17 countries. In 2012 alone, JDRF provided more than $110 million to T1D research. More than 80 percent of JDRF's expenditures directly support research and research-related education. In 2012 Forbes magazine named JDRF one of its five All-Star charities, citing the organization's efficiency and effectiveness.

For more information, please visit jdrf.org.

SOURCE JDRF