Beta cell regeneration has been a holy grail for type 1 diabetes researchers for several decades. Despite some promising results in animal models, progress in patients has remained frustratingly elusive, however.

HONG KONG – Korea’s Celltrion Inc. aims to wrap up its first major M&A deal with Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceutical Inc. by the end of 2020, pending approvals.

The FDA Thursday approved Mylan NV’s Semglee (insulin glargine), adding another player to the U.S. insulin space that has been pretty much controlled by three companies – Eli Lilly and Co., Novo Nordisk A/S and Sanofi SA.

In a bid to expand its presence in the cardiometabolic disease space and strengthen its core business in diabetes and obesity, Novo Nordisk A/S is buying Corvidia Therapeutics Inc., of Waltham, Mass., for $2.1 billion, which includes a $725 million up-front payment.

Investigators are working to develop electrogenetic devices that use remote-controlled electrical stimulation to elicit specific behaviors in engineered cells. They are following in the footsteps of optogenetics, which use specific wavelengths of light to control cell function remotely. A new study published in Science used such a device paired with encapsulated, engineered human pancreatic beta cells to express enough insulin to restore normal glycemic levels in mice models of diabetes.

Privately held Viacyte Inc., of San Diego, has closed on about $27 million in private funding, the remainder of its $80 million series D stock financing from late 2018.

So far, the excitement surrounding “living drugs” is that of pioneer work, with the Carl June and Steve Rosenberg playing the roles of Lewis and Clark or the Wright brothers.