Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Schneider Children's Medical Center and DreaMed Diabetes Collaborate to Improve Insulin Management for People with Type 1 Diabetes

PETAH TIKVA, Israel and CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, May 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

DreaMed Diabetes, developer of diabetes treatment and management solutions, Schneider Children's Medical Center and researchers from the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) announced today that they have entered a research collaboration agreement for improving insulin management for individuals living with type 1 diabetes. Researchers from DreaMed Diabetes will partner with Dr. Eyal Dassau, senior research fellow in biomedical engineering and Francis J. Doyle III, dean of SEAS, together with Prof. Moshe Phillip and Dr Revital Nimri from Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, to optimize therapy options for patients with type 1 diabetes who receive multiple daily injections of insulin and that use point-of-care capillary glucose measurements.

Eran Atlas, CEO of DreaMed, explained, "A large fraction of people with type 1 diabetes do not use an insulin pump and a continuous glucose monitor for various reasons, but rather rely on glucometers and insulin injections. Currently, there is no available data on the insulin injection habits of this type 1 population. In the age of 'smart', connected devices, in which insulin injections will be registered on the patient's smartphone and data will be gathered in cloud-based platforms, we see an opportunity to collect accurate data on the majority of type 1 patients and to develop a product that will help them better control their disease."

Dr. Eyal Dassau, Study PI at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, stated, "Our collective work on the development of automated algorithms for insulin management and clinical evaluation of this new technology will enable us to develop a novel dosing support system for patients on multiple daily injections (MDI) and to improve care for many that are not using insulin pumps."

Prof. Francis J. Doyle III, Dean of the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, stated, "This partnership represents many years of experience in algorithms development for automated glucose control, sometimes referred to as artificial pancreas systems, including extensive clinical validation."

Prof. Moshe Phillip, MD, Chairman and Chief Scientific Officer of DreaMed Diabetes, and Director of the Institute for Endocrinology and Diabetes, Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, commented, "Patients with type 1 diabetes on MDI therapy, and their physicians, rely on personalized information which includes cumulative data on past glucose and insulin levels, as well as detailed information of the amount and time of all meals and physical activity of the patients. This retrospective analysis is time consuming and requires a high degree of expertise. In addition, evidence show that most of the type 1 diabetes patients do not reach the glucose control goals set by the various agencies.  Therefore, there is a need to develop additional tools and algorithms to assist both physicians and patients to better optimize patient's treatment profile in order to improve glucose control outcomes in the type 1 diabetes population."

About Glucose Control 

Insulin dependent diabetes is a growing global health problem that affects more than 90 million people worldwide. Glucose control is the primary factor in avoiding the most severe complications of diabetes. In spite of advancement in insulin therapy and devices for glucose measurement, most patients do not achieve their target glucose control and are vulnerable to permanent and costly complications. Insulin-dependent patients represent approximately 50% of the global population of individuals with diabetes, which is growing by about 6 percent annually.

About DreaMed Diabetes 

Founded in 2014, DreaMed Diabetes develops health solutions and decision support tools using algorithms for the optimization of intensive insulin therapy for the benefit of people with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. The Company's first product, GlucoSitter™, was developed for closed-loop insulin therapy and was licensed to Medtronic. The Company's latest product, Advisor™, is a system for the optimization of patient specific intensive insulin therapy decisions.  For more information please visit http://www.dreamed-diabetes.com.

About Schneider Children's Medical Center 

Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel is the only comprehensive, tertiary care hospital of its kind in the country and in the Middle East, offering the full range of pediatric disciplines under one roof to all children from 0-18. Since its establishment in 1991, Schneider Children's has revolutionized the practice of pediatric medicine in the country and been recognized as one of the leading pediatric institutions in the world. The Institute of Endocrinology and Diabetes at Schneider Children's is a national referral center and the first to introduce a comprehensive multidisciplinary approach to diabetic patients in Israel. The Institute treat children and youth who suffer from hormone and growth disorders and follows 1700 type 1 diabetic patients. The Institute has gained international recognition through the development of new approaches to the care of diabetes in children, and is leading projects in diabetes technology including artificial pancreas and decision support system that will revolutionize the treatment of diabetes in the future http://www.schneider.org.il/eng

About the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

SEAS serves as the connector and integrator of Harvard's teaching and research efforts in engineering, applied sciences, and technology. Through collaboration with researchers from all parts of Harvard, other universities, and corporate and foundation partners, we bring discovery and innovation directly to bear on improving human life and society. http://seas.harvard.edu.

DreaMed contact:
Tsipi Haitovsky
Global Media Liaison
+972-52-5989-892
[email protected]

Schneider Children's Medical Center contact:
Riva Shacked, Schneider Children's MC
Spokesperson
[email protected]
+972-3-9253733

Harvard contact:
Paul Karoff
[email protected]
+1-617-496-0450

SOURCE DreaMed Diabetes