Key Takeaways
- Breakthrough T1D helped organize a meeting in European Parliament to bring the unmet needs of the type 1 diabetes (T1D) community to the forefront and discuss how we can accelerate cures, especially cell therapies, in the EU.
- This meeting was attended by several Breakthrough T1D leadership and staff.
- Building long-term partnerships with the European Union (EU) Institutions will allow us to work together toward global T1D cures.
A meeting of the minds
This past week, Breakthrough T1D helped organize an event hosted by Member of European Parliament Tomislav Sokol, Ph.D., titled “Accelerating Breakthroughs to Address Unmet Needs in Type 1 Diabetes.” This meeting, a significant coming-together of Breakthrough T1D and European policymakers, focused on the role of the EU in addressing the needs of the T1D community and accelerating T1D breakthroughs.
The purpose of this meeting was to raise awareness of T1D and the urgent need for the accelerated development and approval of breakthrough therapies in the EU. Conversations between Breakthrough T1D and European policymakers homed in on barriers and opportunities to advancing cures—including cell therapies and disease-modifying therapies—in the EU to get them into the hands of people with T1D, faster. This was an important step in establishing an open dialogue between Breakthrough T1D and the EU Institutions about working together to address T1D globally.
“This event in the EU Parliament allows us to engage with important decision-makers to ensure that the research and policy environments are oriented in a way to accelerate development of T1D breakthrough therapies in the EU as we also do in other countries,” explained Campbell Hutton, Senior Vice President of Global Advocacy at Breakthrough T1D.
Attendees
Several Breakthrough T1D leadership and staff members attended the meeting, including Thomas Danne, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Medical Officer, Global; Sanjoy Dutta, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer; Lynn Starr, Chief Global Advocacy Officer, Carmen Hurtado del Pozo, Director, European Research; and Campbell Hutton, Senior Vice President of Global Advocacy.
Several Members of the European Parliament (MEP) in addition to host Tomislav Sokol, Ph.D., were in attendance. Other attendees included people with a lived experience of T1D, health staff from EU Member States, researchers in the EU, and other European diabetes organizations.
Dr. Dutta delivered a talk on the role of breakthrough therapies in transforming T1D. Dr. Danne moderated a panel to provide insight about unlocking the potential of cell therapies breakthroughs in the EU with T1D cell therapy researchers: Professor Lorenzo Piemonti, M.D., Director of the Diabetes Research Institute at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University and Associate Professor Francoise Carlotti, Ph.D., Head of the Islet Research Lab at Leiden University Medical Center. Finally, Lynn Starr closed with remarks about our shared global responsibility to work toward breakthrough T1D therapies.
When and where it took place
The event took place on June 5, 2025, in Brussels, Belgium, at the European Parliament.
Driving toward T1D cures in the EU and beyond
T1D is on the rise around the world, including in Europe. Recent publications by Breakthrough T1D staff and leadership brought attention to the rise in incidence and global T1D burden. We need to act now in conjunction with governments around the world—like the EU—to address the unmet needs of everyone around the world affected by T1D.
T1D cures, including cell therapies, are advancing through the clinical pipeline. Bringing awareness of T1D to the forefront—and educating key people on the progress we’re making toward cures—will be incredibly important for driving T1D research forward in the EU. This represents a critical opportunity for the EU to accelerate cell therapies faster than ever. As a global organization, Breakthrough T1D is collaborating with the EU government to help make this possible.
As the largest global funder of T1D research, Breakthrough T1D has provided funding to researchers across the world in addition to the EU. Right now, Breakthrough T1D is supporting €56 million in European initiatives, including 31 clinical trials—representing 19% of our funded research (including the U.K.). Breakthrough T1D has expert teams in research, medical, regulatory, and advocacy in Europe, meaning we are uniquely positioned to provide guidance on how the EU can strengthen its T1D efforts and collaborate on a global scale to drive T1D breakthroughs, especially in cell therapies.
Type 1 diabetes is a critical disease in Europe, and I was pleased to host an event for the T1D community and my colleagues in the European Parliament to learn about the unmet needs in T1D and how we can work together to accelerate breakthrough therapies in Europe to address those needs.”
What Breakthrough T1D leadership is saying
“This meeting is critically important to bringing the unmet needs of the T1D community into the spotlight in the EU. Global advocacy for curative T1D research is essential to achieving Breakthrough T1D’s mission, and continued collaboration with EU policymakers will get us there faster.”
Lynn Starr
Chief Global Advocacy Officer
“International efforts to accelerate global adoption of T1D cures will become increasingly important as newer, emerging cell therapies become available to people with T1D. Conversations like these with EU policymakers is bringing this urgent need to the forefront.”
Thomas Danne, M.D., Ph.D.
Chief Medical Officer, Global
“Cell therapies are accelerating through the clinical pipeline faster than ever. We need to act now on a global scale to ensure that people with T1D around the world can access these transformative therapies. This meeting is a significant step toward that goal.”
Sanjoy Dutta, Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer
Accelerating global action is paramount to our mission
Global problems require global solutions. This meeting served as a critical launching point for a continued partnership with the EU to fill gaps and address unmet needs for the T1D community. Building relationships and fostering long-term partnerships is critically important for reaching our common goal of bringing cures to people with T1D as soon as possible.
These important conversations between Breakthrough T1D and the EU government align with our Project ACT (Accelerate Cell Therapies) initiative to accelerate the development of cell therapies that do not require immunosuppression—for everyone with T1D in every country. In addition, through international Centers of Reference, Breakthrough T1D’s Medical Affairs team is developing expert clinical care centers that will be trained and ready to provide cell therapies to people with T1D once they become available. We are at the forefront of global action to prepare the world for curative cell therapies.
Project ACT
Scientific progress takes time, money, and effort. To accelerate islet replacement therapies faster than ever, Breakthrough T1D launched Project ACT (Accelerate Cell Therapies) to simultaneously advance research, development, regulatory policies, access, and adoption of manufactured islet therapies that do not require broad immunosuppression.
We are driving toward a future in which everyone with T1D—no matter where they are—has access to therapies, treatments, and care, bringing us closer to achieving our mission of a world without T1D. The more people we have working toward our mission, the faster we will get there.
