Recently diagnosed with type 1 diabetes? One of the most important things many people don’t realize is this: your pancreas is probably still producing some insulin!

Most people newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes still have healthy, active beta cells in their pancreas making insulin. In fact, research shows that many newly diagnosed adults and children continue producing insulin for months or even years after diagnosis. 

This period is often called the “honeymoon phase.”

But here’s the hard part: your immune system is still attacking those remaining beta cells. Over time, without intervention, those surviving beta cells will be destroyed by your immune system like the rest.

That’s why timing matters.

What if the “Honeymoon Phase” of T1D Could Last Longer?

GentiBio is a biotechnology company developing a therapy that hopes to protect those healthy surviving beta cells and potentially even allow your body to repair (or heal) some of the damaged ones.

GentiBio’s investigational therapy — called GNTI-122 — is designed specifically for people early after diagnosis when there are still beta cells left to protect. The goal isn’t to eliminate insulin therapy overnight. The goal is to preserve what your body is still doing on its own.

Protecting even a small amount of natural insulin production has the potential to: 

• make type 1 diabetes overall easier to manage 
• reduce your risk of severe hypoglycemia
• improve your overall long-term health  

It all comes down to managing something called “regulatory T cells”.

Get this: in 2025, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine recognized groundbreaking research on regulatory T cells. And that science is helping fuel new treatment ideas like GNTI-122.

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 What Is GNTI-122?

GNTI-122 is an investigational therapy made from your own cells. Doctors collect white blood cells from your blood, modify them in a lab to strengthen their regulatory function, and then return them to your body in a single infusion through a vein.

The goal: To protect the insulin-producing cells you still have.

These modified cells are designed to travel to the pancreas, stay there, and help reduce your immune system’s attack on the cells that still produce insulin.

Who Can Participate?

The POLARIS study is the first clinical trial testing GNTI-122 in humans. It’s currently enrolling adults:

• Ages 18 to 45
• Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes within the last 120 days (4 months)
• Who carry a specific genetic marker found in about 40% of people with T1D

Participation involves:

• A blood draw to identify your body’s:
  • Specific genetic marker HLA-DRB1*04:01 allele
  • C-peptide level, which must be greater than ≥ 0.2 nmol/L, indicates how much insulin you still produce
  • T1D autoantibodies

If your initial bloodwork matches the criteria, the next steps include:

• A blood draw to collect white blood cells
• One treatment infusion
• 18 months of follow-up visits to monitor the safety and effectiveness of GNTI-122

Why This Matters

GentiBio’s investigational therapy is different. Most current treatments for T1D focus on managing your blood sugar. This approach hopes to address the underlying issue that causes T1D in the first place, with the hope of protecting as much of your body’s natural insulin production as possible.

If you or someone you know was recently diagnosed, contact the study site directly or visit Polaris Study for more information about eligibility.

Research like this represents a growing effort to change what it means to live with T1D. Just ask someone who’s lived with type 1 for decades: what would it be like if their pancreas were still helping? 

It has the potential to change every day of your life with T1D.