JDRF Launches First Mass Screening Program for Early-Stage Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) Detection

NEW YORK and RED BANK, N.J., Dec. 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On the heels of National Diabetes Awareness Month, JDRF, the leading global funder of type 1 diabetes (T1D) research, has launched a groundbreaking screening initiative for T1D: T1Detect. Designed to make early detection of T1D easier and more accessible to a broad population, financial assistance is available for the cost of the screening. The initiative is supported by founding sponsor Provention Bio (Nasdaq: PRVB), a biopharmaceutical company focused on intercepting and preventing autoimmune disease.

Detecting T1D before symptoms occur is possible through a blood test when people have two or more diabetes-related autoantibodies and blood sugar levels have become abnormal. Research has proven that 75 percent of people at this stage will become insulin-dependent within five years. Their lifetime risk of clinical disease approaches 100 percent.ⁱ Approximately 85 percentⁱⁱ of people with T1D have no family history, underscoring the necessity for an all-population screening. T1Detect will be available to people of all ages whether or not they have a family member with T1D.

"T1Detect is the first and only screening program that will enable a broad population to know their risk of T1D," said Aaron J. Kowalski, Ph.D., President and CEO of JDRF. "This groundbreaking initiative is an important milestone for JDRF because it will increase awareness about early-stage T1D, provide access to crucial education and support for those at risk, and pave the way to ensuring that T1D screening becomes part of universal, clinical preventive services."

JDRF-funded screening consortia and studies, such as TrialNet, INNODIA, FR1da, and ASK, have shown that identifying at-risk individuals, along with education and monitoring for those found to be positive, reduces the risk of diabetic ketoacidosis, which can be life-threatening,  and expands the pool of qualified participants for future trials of disease-modifying therapies. Early detection also enables patients and families to prepare for the onset of clinical disease and a lifetime of insulin administration and glucose monitoring.

"Provention Bio is proud to support JDRF's screening initiative," said Ashleigh Palmer, CEO of Provention Bio. "We are committed to working with partners in the T1D community to find new ways to empower patients and doctors with information that could lead to more informed healthcare decisions."

JDRF has brought together a multi-sectoral collaboration to expand access to T1D screening, including MedIQ, which will provide clinician education, Nuvera Life Science Consulting, which will advise on program design and operations and Enable Biosciences, which will conduct the screenings. Under the JDRF-Beyond Type 1 Alliance, Beyond Type 1 will support community education and awareness. The multi-year initiative is supported by both individual gifts and corporate sponsors.

For more information about the T1Detect initiative and how to obtain an at-home testing kit visit, www.jdrf.org/t1detect. Test kits are only available for shipping within the United States and Puerto Rico.

About JDRF

JDRF's mission is to accelerate life-changing breakthroughs to cure, prevent, and treat T1D and its complications. To accomplish this, JDRF has invested more than $2.5 billion in research funding since our inception. We are an organization built on a grassroots model of people connecting in their local communities, collaborating regionally for efficiency and broader fundraising impact and uniting on a national stage to pool resources, passion and energy. We collaborate with academic institutions, policymakers and corporate and industry partners to develop and deliver a pipeline of innovative therapies to people living with T1D. Our staff and volunteers throughout the United States and our five international affiliates are dedicated to advocacy, community engagement and our vision of a world without T1D. For more information, please visit jdrf.org or follow us on Twitter: @JDRF

About Provention Bio, Inc.:

Provention Bio, Inc. (Nasdaq: PRVB) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on advancing the development of investigational therapies that may intercept and prevent debilitating and life-threatening immune-mediated disease. The Company's pipeline includes clinical product development candidates that have demonstrated in clinical studies proof-of-mechanism and/or proof-of-concept in autoimmune diseases, including diabetes, celiac disease and lupus. Visit ProventionBio.com for more information or follow us on Twitter: @ProventionBio

ⁱ https://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/38/10/1964
ⁱⁱ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK326738/

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SOURCE JDRF