Friday, Jul 24, 2026 The claims desk. Receipts included. POWERED BY LENZ ↗
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HEALTH

The Claim

Living Cell Technologies conducted clinical trials in New Zealand in which islet cells from Auckland Island pigs were transplanted into eight patients with type 1 diabetes.

Verified by Lenz ·

The Short Version

The central claim is well supported: Living Cell Technologies did conduct New Zealand clinical studies using Auckland Island pig islet cells in patients with type 1 diabetes. The problem is the number. Eight patients matches an intermediate stage reported at the time, but the completed New Zealand trial later treated 14 patients, so the claim is accurate in substance but incomplete as stated.

Caveats

  • The figure of eight appears to describe an interim stage, not the final total for the New Zealand trial program.
  • Using a single fixed patient count is imprecise because the New Zealand studies expanded over time and involved multiple cohorts/phases.
  • Some supporting reports are company or investor communications; the strongest confirmation comes from peer-reviewed and registry-style sources, which also show the later total of 14 treated patients.

The Receipts

  1. Microbiological safety of the first clinical pig islet xenotransplantation trial in New Zealand

    PubMed

  2. Clean Pigs Offer Alternative to Stem Cell Transplants

    Science

  3. PRESS RELEASE: Living Cell Technologies Announces Positive Preliminary Data from DiabeCell

    FierceBiotech

  4. New Zealand DIABECELL® Trial Starts

    Irasia (Living Cell Technologies investor document)

  5. Living Cell Technologies Ltd. Reports Sustained Improvement from DIABECELL NZ Trial

    BioSpace

  6. DIABECELL

    Diatranz Otsuka Limited

  7. ASX Listing Rules Appendix 4C – Quarterly report including DIABECELL New Zealand trial description

    ASX (Australian Securities Exchange) / Living Cell Technologies

  8. Open-label Investigation of the Safety and Effectiveness of DIABECELL(R) in Patients With Type I Diabetes Mellitus (NCT00940173)

    ClinicalTrials.gov

  9. Islets transplantation: New Zealand experience

    Xenotransplantation (Wiley Online Library)

  10. Message from the CEO – Update on DiabeCell®: Clinical trial program

    Investi (Living Cell Technologies CEO letter)

+ 17 more sources — see the full list on Lenz

Filed Under

Auckland IslandLiving Cell TechnologiesNew ZealandType 1 diabetes

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