EXCLUSIVE: Local teen among first to receive groundbreaking diabetes treatment

COLUMBUS, Ga. ( WRBL ) — One of the first patients in the world to be treated by a new drug is getting treatment right in Columbus. The groundbreaking treatment, known as teplizumab or TZIELD , is intended to delay the onset of Type 1 diabetes.

“The fact of the matter is that amazingly, the city of Columbus is farther ahead in dealing with this drug than any other place in the world,” said Dr. Steven Leichter.

It was Leichter himself who administered the first ever biosynthetic human insulin dose into a human in 1982. He has spent more than 50 years in the endocrinology field, leading the way for innovative research and treatment.

Now, he is taking major steps on the way to curing Type 1 diabetes.

“Type 1 is someone who has lost the cells in the pancreas [that] make insulin, the beta cells,” Leichter said. “They have an absolute deficiency of insulin, and they have to take insulin to keep their blood sugars control.”

Piedmont has been a part of clinical research trials for TZIELD for the past three years.

The trials include a 14-day IV infusion where patients come back for successive days. The goal is to “pause” the onset of Type 1 diabetes in younger patients, according to Piedmont Midtown’s Chief Nursing Officer Cary Burcham.

“It’s really cutting-edge medical technology that we’re excited to be a part of,” Burcham said.

To be a TZIELD candidate, patients must be in the process of developing Type 1 diabetes. Leichter explained this means their bodies would be starting to kill the cells that make insulin, the beta cells, but they still have some of those cells left.

At that point, Leichter said doctors “can infuse this drug into them and it will stop the onset of the disease between two-and-a-half and seven years.”

Among the first to receive TZIELD doses outside of clinical trials is 15-year-old Ella Velez, whose brother was a patient in clinical trials. Velez was tested for autoantibodies and monitored for two years before receiving her 14 IV infusions.

According to Leichter, this breakthrough in treatment could go on to help patients over a longer span of time. Scientists are already looking to find other uses for the drug, including seeing if another round of treatment could further delay the onset of the disease if the patient has a relapse.

“It’s one of the greatest developments in my area of medicine, in endocrinology in my entire career,” Leichter said. “It means that if we can identify people who are starting to develop Type 1 diabetes, we can stop it.”

TZIELD is intended for patients who are eight and older with stage II, Type 1 diabetes. Once opened, the Bill and Olivia Amos Children’s Hospital will become the only hospital in the southeast equipped to offer this treatment.

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