Millions of people around the world suffer from diabetes, but until the 1920s there was no treatment for it.
Frederick Banting was born on November 14 1891 in Ontario, Canada. His pioneering work using insulin to treat diabetes was seen as a miracle, saving millions of lives. The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to Sir Frederick and John Macleod, who had helped the research get funded, in 1923. King George V knighted Sir Frederick in 1934.
Sir Fredrick Banting suffered an untimely death in 1941, at just 49, when the Lockheed Martin Super Electra plane he was flying in on a transatlantic flight lost power in both engines and crashed. Sir Frederick died of his injuries the next day. Today we celebrate what would have been his 125th birthday.
According to the World Health Organisation, 422 million people had been diagnosed with diabetes in 2014 and the global prevalence had risen from 4.7 per cent in 1980 to 8.5 per cent. However, around the world, half of those with diabetes are not diagnosed. The WHO predicts that it will be the 7th leading cause of death in 2030.
We are delighted to be working with Wockhardt and their UK manufacturing plant in Wrexham, who is responsible for the manufacture of sterile injectable products, including insulin for diabetes. Originally established in 1950, Wockhardt UK has several decades of experience in manufacturing a wide spectrum of sterile injectable products and is also a leading contract manufacturer for customers in both the UK and Global Markets.
Collaborating with pharma and healthcare companies to support on-going regulatory compliance, manufacturing excellence and QC laboratory data management in this pioneering field of science is tremendously humbling and rewarding. Especially on this historic day on what would have been Sir Frederick Banting’s 125th birthday.
