The EDENT1FI and INNODIA projects have contributed to a set of recommendations for policymakers published by the European Diabetes Forum which outlines how Europe can make type 1 diabetes a disease of the past.
The recommendations call for early screening programmes to be rolled out across Europe as well as highlighting the pressing need to trial disease-modifying therapies that could slow the progression of type 1 diabetes in Europe. The paper points to the work carried out by EDENT1FI and INNODIA amongst other research projects as best practices and examples for what needs to be done.
The recommendations were presented at the European Parliament on November 4, 2025 at an event hosted by Danish MEP Stine Bosse and organised by the EDENT1FI project, the European Diabetes Forum and the Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU.
“Technology to cure type 1 diabetes exists. This will mean enormous improvements in quality of life for patients across Europe. So how do we get to the cure?” said Bosse. “This will require building an even stronger ecosystem of biotech innovation and research. Europe must become attractive for investments, research, clinical trials and manufacturing.”
Building up Europe’s clinical trial capacities to deliver disease-modifying treatments
INNODIA developed a pan-European clinical trial network that strengthens Europe’s capacity for carrying out clinical trials on disease-modifying therapies for type 1 diabetes. The network identifies, connects and supports clinical sites for both trials and for the integration of disease-modifying therapies into clinical practice.
The work of INNODIA has made Europe more attractive to pharmaceutical companies as a base for developing disease-modifying therapies, which boosts Europe’s competitiveness in the global health research sphere, and increases the chances that Europeans with type 1 diabetes will have access to novel treatments.
Simone Overby Sloth, Danish Counsellor for Health from the Permanent Representation of Denmark to the EU, spoke about the importance of carrying out clinical trials throughout Europe and told attendees at the event that building up Europe’s capabilities to test and develop these life-changing medicines is essential.
“The ecosystem of life sciences is the soil, it’s the foundation. We’re working hard to develop a better environment for cross-border clinical trials,” she said.
Rolling out early screening programmes across Europe
EDENT1FI, an ongoing IHI project, is in the process of screening 200 000 children across Europe to determine whether their blood contains islet-directed antibodies, a first sign of type 1 diabetes which can be detected before any symptoms appear. At the core of the EDENT1FI project is the goal of determining how best to organise and carry out general population screening, by figuring out scientific tools and methods to do so.
Detecting type 1 diabetes at the early pre-symptomatic stages means that life-threatening ketoacidosis could be avoided and disease-modifying therapies that could slow or even prevent the onset of the symptoms could be used.
“Research will lead the way in curing this disease,” said Chantal Mathieu, project coordinator of EDENT1FI and researcher at KU Leuven, who was moderating the event.
She highlighted how EDENT1FI was investigating not only how best to approach screening from a scientific perspective, but how to maximise acceptance of screening programmes by the general population and encourage participation. A crucial part of the project was designing strategies to explain the need for screening to both healthcare providers and the general public.
She said that a prevailing attitude amongst healthcare providers is that insulin is enough, and that they don’t consider the dangers of ketoacidosis or the impact that life-long insulin treatment has on a person’s life.
Italy has become the first country in Europe to roll out a general population screening programme, and the EDENT1FI project has developed a communications toolkit to help other countries that want to follow suit.
The communications challenge is on several fronts – on the one hand, convincing healthcare practitioners who consider type 1 diabetes ‘solved’ already, and on the other, explaining to parents and the general population why healthy children and young people should be screened. EDENT1FI has developed communications resources to help countries with their communications efforts, which are available on the website www.itsinyourhands.eu and a LinkedIn and Instagram channel.
Public-private partnerships hold the key to solving these problems
IHI’s scientific officer Klelia Salpea outlined how public-private partnerships are necessary to tackle these complex problems.
“People living with diabetes, researchers, the various health industry sectors, regulators, healthcare providers and professionals, all hold a piece of the puzzle,” she said.
“The partnership built under the INNODIA projects is an excellent example of long-lasting partnership built under our programme. Very recently the results of one of the clinical trial run by INNODIA were announced; the results show that the drug tested does prevent the progression of type 1 diabetes in young people. The innovative clinical trial design developed by INNODIA shortened the time needed to find a safe and effective drug.”
Chantal Mathieu emphasised that the public-private partnership was the secret to the success of INNODIA and EDENT1FI. “IHI makes you work together. It’s not just academic scientists cooking in our laboratories. It’s clinicians, it’s clinical scientists, it’s people living with these diseases, it’s industry, it’s foundations, it’s everyone coming together.”
Turning research outcomes into policy recommendations is not a simple step, but the EDENT1FI project has highlighted how impactful it can be. The project continues to engage with policymakers to emphasise the importance of early screening and the development of new therapies to improve the lives of people with type 1 diabetes and possibly even to find a cure.
While EDENT1FI is an IHI project, INNODIA is supported by the Innovative Medicines Initiative, a partnership between the European Union and the European pharmaceutical industry.