JDRF Announces Diabetes Research Collaboration with Pfizer, Hadassah Medical Organization, and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Program Focuses on Beta Cell Replication and Regeneration

NEW YORK, March 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, a leader in setting the agenda for diabetes research worldwide, said today that it will begin a diabetes research collaboration with Pfizer, Hadassah Medical Organization, and The Hebrew University of Jerusalem on drugs to replicate and regenerate insulin-producing cells in people with type 1 diabetes.

The program, under the direction of Professor Benjamin Glaser (Hadassah Medical) and Dr. Yuval Dor (Department of Developmental Biology, Institute for Medical Research Israel-Canada (IMRIC) at The Hebrew University), and in collaboration with scientists from Pfizer PharmaTherapeutics Research & Development, is jointly funded by JDRF and Pfizer.

The research team will focus on the preclinical evaluation of certain proprietary Pfizer compounds as candidates to promote beta cell replication and regeneration. 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.

The collaboration aims to provide a comprehensive biological characterization of the Pfizer compounds' potential beneficial effect on beta cell health and survival, building on unique beta cell regeneration models created by Dr. Dor and funded in part by JDRF.

"Drugs that can stimulate the replication of insulin-producing cells and expand beta cell mass have the potential to reverse type 1 diabetes," said Alan J. Lewis, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer 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 non-profit organizations, can work together for the benefit of patients," said Tim Rolph, PhD., Vice President of Pfizer's Cardiovascular Metabolic and Endocrine Diseases Research. "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. Dor. "Ben Glaser and myself 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."

About JDRF

JDRF is a leader in setting the agenda for diabetes research worldwide, and is the largest charitable funder and advocate of type 1 research. The mission of JDRF is to find a cure for diabetes and its complications through the support of research. Type 1 diabetes is a disease which strikes children and adults suddenly and requires multiple injections of insulin daily or a continuous infusion of insulin through a pump. Insulin, however, is not a cure for diabetes, nor does it 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 1 diabetes, JDRF has awarded more than $1.4 billion to diabetes research, including more than $100 million in FY2009.

For more information, please visit www.jdrf.org  

About THE Hadassah University Medical Center

The Hadassah University Medical Center is a state-of-the-art medical center, incorporating all medical and surgical sub-specialties, with a tertiary care referral hospital at Ein Kerem and a community hospital on Mt. Scopus. It is the flagship of Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America, the organization that laid the foundation of Israel's medical infrastructure, initiated and maintains educational programs and youth institutions, and is the main supporter of The Hadassah Medical Center, which, in partnership with the Hebrew University, runs five medical academic institutions: the Schools of Medicine; Nursing; Dental Medicine; Occupational Therapy; Public Health and Community Medicine. Committed to excellence in health care, medical research and medical education, The Hadassah University Medical Center conducts more than half the hospital-based research in Israel and is the largest employer in Jerusalem excluding the government, with 850 physicians, 1,940 nurses and 1,020 paramedical and support staff on two campuses with a total of 1,100 beds, 31 operating theaters, 9 intensive care units and over 120 outpatient clinics.

For more information, please visit www.hadassah.org.il

SOURCE Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation