The Protégé study will further evaluate the safety of teplizumab and test whether it will reduce or prevent the autoimmune attack that damages beta cells. If it works, the person may need less injected insulin, and blood glucose levels may be easier to control if the remaining beta cells are preserved.

Your body uses a type of white blood cells, called T cells, to attack cells and germs that are foreign to your body. In type 1 diabetes, your body acts as if the insulin-producing beta cells in your pancreas are foreign and allows certain T cells to attack the beta cells.

To slow the effects of type 1 diabetes, you need a way to protect the beta cells from your body's attack. The Protégé study is testing an experimental drug called hOKT3γ1 (Ala-Ala) or teplizumab, a CD3 monoclonal antibody that may protect the beta cells. Teplizumab may protect beta cells by attaching to T cells before the T cells can attack your beta cells.