New Center of Competence for Innovative Diabetes Therapy
New Center of Competence for Innovative Diabetes Therapy (KomIT) funded by NRW and EU
Dortmund, March 2019 ++++
Over the next three years, Taros Chemicals will work closely with a consortium of eight partners from industry and academia (molecular biology and cellular metabolic physiology) in the search for new drugs to treat diabetes. Taros scientists will actively contribute their excellence in drug discovery and molecular drug design. At the German Diabetes Center (DDZ), a new competence center will be set up in the next three years with funds from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the EU amounting to around 3.5 million euros. The goal of the Center, coordinated by the DDZ, is to efficiently translate innovative research findings into clinical use to improve patient diabetes management. The rapidly increasing number of diabetes patients in Germany as well as the associated socio-economic burden on the healthcare system urgently require the development of new approaches to causal therapies.
“Together with our partners we aim to establish a sustainable infrastructure, to bring innovative approaches of diabetes therapy rapidly and directly to the patients” explains Prof. Michael Roden, scientific Director of the German Diabetes Center and coordinator of the new Center of Competence for Innovative Diabetes Therapy (KomIT). “Our joint activities aim to bundle expertise, finally leading to scientific and technological break-throughs in diabetes research”. In addition to the German Diabetes Center, the other partners are: Algiax Pharmaceuticals GmbH, Taros Chemicals GmbH & Co. KG, Lead Discovery Center GmbH, vivo Science GmbH, A & M Labor für Analytik und Metabolismusforschung Service GmbH, PROFIL Institut für Stoffwechselforschung GmbH, and TU Dortmund with the Drug Discovery Hub Dortmund (DDHD).
In Northrhine-Westphalia, excellent basic research in the field of clinical-experimental diabetes studies is conducted for a long time. However, translation of these results into clinical applications is not yet sufficient to generate an economic boost. For start-ups and small companies with high innovation potential it is often not possible to carry out extensive experimental and clinical research with sufficient critical mass. At this point, the new Center of Competence provides strategic support. Leading idea is to build up a sustainable infrastructure that combines expertise from management, medicinal chemistry, preclinical and analytical studies, toxicology and physiology, up to clinical testing.
About Taros Chemicals
Taros is a privately owned discovery chemistry company, working with global pharmaceutical, biotech and chemical companies since 1999. Alongside our performance chemicals and material science division, Taros’ drug discovery mission is to create drug candidates as potential new medicines. Taros has a strong scientific track record on many biomolecular targets in all main therapeutic areas and thereby adding considerable value to collaborations from target validation and hit identification to lead generation and optimization. Taros’ core expertise ranges from custom synthesis and process development to modern medicinal and computational chemistry, as well as compound library design and production.
Taros was heading the chemistry efforts of the EUR 196 million funded European Lead Factory (2013-2018) and is currently heading its EUR 36.5 million funded continuation (2019-2022). Moreover, Taros is deeply engaged in other research alliances like the EUR 11 million funded Drug Discovery Hub Dortmund.
Press Contact:
Youri R. Mesmoudi, Executive Vice President, e-mail: innovation |at| taros.de
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