<div><p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Diabetes advocates and a company that makes insulin pumps announced plans on Wednesday to team up to make a so-called artificial pancreas -- a system of pumps and monitors to manage type-1 diabetes.</p><p>The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation said it had chosen Johnson & Johnson unit Animas to develop and test the new system.</p><p>"This is going to be a research and development first step, toward creating an artificial pancreas," Dr. Henry Anhalt, director of medical affairs for Animas, told Reuters in a telephone interview.</p><p>Animas, which makes insulin pumps, will work with the foundation to create a wireless system combining continuous glucose monitoring devices, insulin pumps, and sophisticated software to free diabetics from the chore of constantly checking their blood and giving themselves insulin.</p><p>The goal would be a device that can check the blood throughout the day and deliver insulin as needed without the need for the patient or a parent to intervene.</p><p>While it would mean wearing two devices strapped to the body, the "artificial pancreas" would be many steps ahead of using either an insulin pump or continuous glucose monitoring system alone.</p><p>"That is the magic, for these two devices to be able to talk to each other. Both devices are available today but they work independently of each other," said Dr. Alan Lewis, chief executive officer and president of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.</p><p>The foundation has been working for years with academic centers to develop a system that is more seamless and is ready to translate what they have found to commercial development.</p><p>"Animus is the organization that provides the tools. JDRF will be a partner in terms of using our knowledge and expertise," Lewis said in a telephone interview.</p><p>The foundation will spend $8 million over the next three years for this project, with a target of having a first-generation system ready for regulatory review within four years.</p><p>LIFTING THE BURDEN</p><p>Type-1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the body mistakenly destroys the cells in the pancreas that make insulin. The body becomes unable to break down and use sugar and if untreated, blood vessels and nerves are destroyed, organs fail and patients die.</p><p>Even with treatment, eventually blood vessels and organs get damaged and patients can lose vision, suffer kidney failure and lose limbs. An estimated 3 million Americans have type-1 diabetes, usually diagnosed in childhood or in young adults.</p><p>"This could be the first tool where we not only improve glucose control but really lift the burden," said Aaron Kowalksi of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, which not only advocates for diabetes research but pays for it.</p><p>Medical device makers have been working for years to develop an artificial pancreas.</p><p>The missing piece has been the software that can control the pumps and make sure that blood sugar does not fall too low or spike too high. The foundation will put academic researchers together with Animas to find the best formula and test it.</p><p>"There is no one algorithm that is currently available that can deal with all contingencies in a patient," said Anholt, a pediatric endocrinologist.</p><p>Lewis said DexCom Inc, which makes continuous glucose monitoring devices, would provide its devices as part of the package.</p><p>"We believe that Animas is one of the leaders in the field that will allow us to commercialize a product," Lewis said.</p><p>The goal is a device that doctors, patients and parents can trust.</p><p>"All the parents who wake up every single night to test their children's blood sugar, maybe this will give them the peace of mind that their child will not wake up with blood sugar that is not super low," said Kowalski, who has type-1 diabetes himself.</p><p>"The quality of life issue cannot be overstated here."</p><p>(Editing by Mohammad Zargham)</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=66840455&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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