The team says that the new potential treatment has a few advantages over other techniques currently in use or under development. Pancreas transplants are effective, but subject to organ donor shortages and other complications like rejection. Other teams have converted skin cells into stem cells and used those to produce new beta cells, and although results have been promising in mice, immune-suppressing drugs need to be given to prevent rejection.

The new treatment would work much faster, within a matter of days, and without the need for surgery. But perhaps the biggest advantage is that GSK126 is already approved by the US FDA and elsewhere in the world as a treatment for cancer. Its safety profile is already being assessed in clinical trials, which could reduce hurdles down the road for its use against diabetes.

That said, the scientists caution that it is still very early days. These experiments were conducted on cells in culture – not even in animals yet – so there’s still plenty of work to do. Nevertheless, it remains an intriguing new possible tool.

Eoin Treacy's view

Diabetes is the ultimate money-spinning chronic disease. It is manageable for Type-2 patients if they have the personal discipline to abide by a low sugar diet. The problem is most people who end up with diabetes suffer from poor impulse control or are happy to take the drug regime prescribed to live as they please. The number of patients continues to trend higher as living standards rise and every day provides a bounty that would once have been reserved for festivals.
Novo Nordisk has benefitted more than most other companies from this trend. The share remains in a consistent medium-term uptrend.
GSK is trading at the upper side of a decade-long range. A sustained move above 1800p would signal a return to medium-term demand dominance.

Insulet is trending lower and will need to break the sequence of lower rally highs to check the slide.

The size of the market opportunity in diabetes virtually ensures there will be an innovative solution at some stage. Novo Nordisk is the clear sector leader but the commercialization of an alternative treatment regime would be a significant challenge for its business. Therefore, it is important to continue to monitor the trend for signs of inconsistency. If GSK is the inheritor of that legacy of success it will sustain a breakout from the long-term range.