Research Collaboration Targets Type I Diabetes

A major collaborative research effort has been launched to find a cure for type I (juvenile) diabetes.

The project whose participants include the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer (New York, NY, USA) the Hadassah Medical Organization (Jerusalem, Israel), and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel) is under the auspices of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF; New York, NY, USA).

JDRF is a worldwide coordinator for research to cure type I diabetes. It helps set the global agenda for diabetes research, and is the largest charitable funder and advocate of diabetes science worldwide. JDRF is dedicated to finding a cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of research. Type I diabetes is an autoimmune disease that strikes children and adults suddenly, and can be fatal. Until a cure is found, people with type I diabetes must test their blood sugar and give themselves insulin injections multiple times or use a pump every day of their lives. Even so, insulin is not a cure for diabetes and does not prevent its eventual and devastating complications, which may include kidney failure, blindness, heart disease, stroke, and amputation.

Since its founding in 1970 by parents of children with type I diabetes, JDRF has awarded more than $1.4 billion to diabetes research, including $101 million in FY 2009. In FY 2009, JDRF funded research projects in 22 countries throughout the world, including more than 40 human clinical trials.

The new research effort will focus on the preclinical evaluation of certain proprietary Pfizer compounds as candidates to promote beta cell replication and regeneration. This research has high priority, as drugs that can stimulate beta cell replication and expand beta cell mass have potential as disease-modifying agents for the treatment of insulin-dependent diabetes.

"Drugs that can stimulate the replication of insulin-producing cells and expand beta cell mass have the potential to reverse type I diabetes,” said Dr. Alan J. Lewis, president and CEO of JDRF. "This program may accelerate one of JDRF's key research goals: to find ways to restore the body's ability to make insulin.”

"With this collaboration, Pfizer, Hadassah Medical Organization, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and the JDRF are creating a unique model for how clinical and biomedical scientists in industry and academia, in collaboration with nonprofit organizations, can work together for the benefit of patients,” said Dr. Tim Rolph, vice president of cardiovascular, metabolic, and endocrine diseases research at Pfizer. "Each group brings to the table its specific set of skills and expertise to address complex problems that each alone would take much longer to solve.”

"We are very excited about this program and the close collaboration with JDRF and Pfizer," said Dr. Yuval Dor, professor of developmental biology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. "We have put considerable efforts in recent years into understanding the basic mechanisms by which the total number of beta cells in healthy adult organisms is regulated, and what triggers the formation of new beta cells when demand exceeds supply. With this new project we are given a chance to examine if our insights can be utilized, using clinically relevant drugs supplied by Pfizer, for boosting beta cell mass in healthy and diabetic mice.”

Related Links:
Pfizer
Hadassah Medical Organization
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation