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Written question asked by Lord Morris of Aberavon (Labour) on Monday, 8 December 2014, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Monday, 22 December 2014. It was answered by Earl Howe (Conservative) on Thursday, 18 December 2014 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Diabetes

Question

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps National Health Service clinical commissioning groups have taken to investigate the reported progress of recent research in the United States regarding the development of an artificial pancreas; whether there have been any interchanges between government-funded researchers in the United Kingdom and the United States; and what assessment they have made of the level of resources available to United Kingdom researchers in that area.

Answer

Artificial pancreas research continues to progress in the United States, the United Kingdom and worldwide. Clinical studies have shown that artificial pancreas systems can improve blood sugar control, especially overnight, and reduce the number of episodes of low blood sugar (hypoglycaemia). Systems have been successfully used at home for the overnight period in adolescents and young adults but significant challenges arise from 24 hour use that remain to be solved, particularly around exercise, food and physical activity.

Artificial pancreas device systems and technologies could be made available through National Health Service commissioning once they have gone through the appropriate regulatory process to demonstrate safety and efficacy.

UK research in this field is supported by funders including the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), the Wellcome Trust, Diabetes UK and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), in collaboration with industry. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including artificial pancreas systems. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality.

The NIHR biomedical research centres at Cambridge and Imperial College London are making a significant contribution to international research in this field. Dr Roman Hovorka, University of Cambridge, and Dr Nick Oliver, Imperial College London are members of the Artificial Pancreas Consortium organised by the JDRF. This consortium meets annually with monthly conference calls providing a forum for discussions between researchers from the US, UK and Australia. There have been no formal interchanges between government-funded researchers in the UK and the US.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL3525
Session
2014-15
Subjects
Diabetes Finance Research USA
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk