Century Therapeutics to Present Findings on Lab-Grown Islet Cells for Type 1 Diabetes

Century Therapeutics, a biotechnology company based in Philadelphia, is working on a cell therapy approach for type 1 diabetes. The therapy, called CNTY-813, involves creating insulin-producing islet cells in the laboratory using induced pluripotent stem cells—adult cells that have been reprogrammed to an early developmental state and can then be directed to become the specific cell types needed.

Type 1 diabetes occurs when the immune system attacks the body's own islet cells, which produce insulin. A cell replacement therapy could potentially restore the body's ability to produce insulin on its own.

One of the major challenges in cell transplantation is preventing the recipient's immune system from attacking the transplanted cells. Century's approach includes genetic engineering called Allo-Evasion™ 5.0, which is designed to modify the transplanted cells in ways that help them escape immune rejection.

If successful, this engineering could potentially allow patients to receive transplanted cells without needing to take immunosuppressive drugs—medications that weaken the immune system to prevent rejection but come with their own risks and side effects.

Moving from laboratory success to patient treatments requires solving manufacturing challenges. Century's upcoming presentations will focus on how to produce CNTY-813 cells reliably and at scale—work that is essential for any potential therapy to become widely available.

The company plans to present preclinical findings on manufacturing processes at two major scientific conferences: the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) Annual Meeting on October 2, 2026, and the Breakthrough T1D® Clinical & Research Congress on October 9, 2026. Both presentations will be given as oral presentations, indicating the significance of the research being shared.

Cell therapies derived from stem cells remain in early-stage research and development. While CNTY-813 shows promise as a potential future treatment, it is not yet available to patients. The preclinical data being presented at these conferences represents one step in a long process of research, clinical testing, and regulatory review.

The focus on manufacturing scalability suggests that if CNTY-813 advances to clinical trials, the goal would be to create standardized, off-the-shelf cell products that could be produced and stored for use by many patients—rather than requiring custom manufacturing for each individual.

Origin: GlobeNewswire News Room (News report). Evidence: News report — unverified, pending corroboration. Type1Cure is an information and intelligence hub, not a medical advice service. This article summarizes published research and does not provide diagnosis, treatment, or personal medical guidance. Always talk to your own care team before changing anything about your Type 1 diabetes management.