It is estimated that 1.6 million Americans have type 1 diabetes (T1D), including about 200,000 children and adolescents younger than the age of 20, and more than one million adults aged 20 years or older. In the U.S. alone, there are 64,000 people diagnosed annually.^1,2 Globally, over one million children under the age of 20 have T1D, with over 130,000 new diagnoses each year³ and an incidence that continues to rise by three percent annually.^4,5 Insulin has remained the standard of care for this disease since its introduction in 1922 – nearly 100 years ago – yet research shows 80 percent of individuals with T1D still have not achieved the hemoglobin A1C levels needed to effectively control glucose.⁶ This positions such individuals at a higher risk for complications.

The World Without Disease Accelerator (WWDA) is working to intercept symptomatic T1D, identifying patients at risk of developing the autoimmune disease and inhibiting its progression. Each WWDA capability group brings forward diverse expertise and insight to apply unique scientific approaches and partnerships with the most promise to intercept T1D at the earliest stages of disease.

1 Type 1 Diabetes Statistics. JDRF. Date Accessed: March 5, 2020. https://www.jdrf.org/t1d-resources/about/facts/

2 Center for Disease Control and Prevention. National Diabetes Statistics Report, 2020. Date Accessed: March 10, 2020. https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/library/features/diabetes-stat-report.html

3 IDF Diabetes Atlas: Eighth Edition 2017. Date accessed: October 15, 2018. http://diabetesatlas.org/IDF_Diabetes_Atlas_8e_interactive_EN/

4 Trends and cyclical variation in the incidence of childhood type 1 diabetes in 26 European centres in the 25 year period 1989–2013:
a multicentre prospective registration study. Diabetologia (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00125-018-4763-3.

5 Incidence Trends of Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes among Youths, 2002–2012. N Engl J Med 2017; 376:1419-1429.

6 State of Type 1 Diabetes Management and Outcomes from the T1D Exchange in 2016–2018. Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics, 21(2), 2019.