‘It’s the start of a revolution’: Top endocrinologist on the first new therapy for type 1 diabetes since insulin
Professor John Wentworth is one of the few Australian clinicians to have treated patients with the drug that aims to delay the onset of type 1 diabetes.
Last week, the TGA approved teplizumab (Tzield) for use in Australia. It is being hailed as the first new therapy for type 1 diabetes since insulin was discovered by Banting and Best a hundred years ago.
Professor John Wentworth, a Melbourne endocrinologist, is one of the few Australian clinicians to have treated patients with the drug that aims to delay the onset of type 1 diabetes.
Here he talks about the costs, the treatment logistics, the safety profile, the next wave of immunotherapies, and the unresolved mystery of what triggers a major chronic disease affecting over 140,000 Australians.
AusDoc: Teplizumab has been given TGA approval, but you’ve already treated patients in Australia with the therapy?
