Cheap, decades-old transplant drug delays full onset of type 1 diabetes

Unrecognizable middle-aged woman preparing an insulin pen to inject herself with a dose.

An inexpensive drug that's been used for decades in transplant surgeries can delay the progression of type 1 diabetes in those newly diagnosed, new research suggests.

In previous studies, a high dose of the immune-suppressing drug polyclonal antithymocyte globulin (ATG) reduced the loss of insulin-making cells in the pancreas, called beta cells. The new study shows that a much smaller dose is almost as effective at slowing disease progression in type 1 — but with fewer side effects.