JDRF, the leading global organization focused on type 1 diabetes (T1D) research, and Novo Nordisk are collaborating to discover and develop novel immunotherapies to prevent, treat, and help cure the type 1 diabetes (T1D). Type 1 diabetes occurs when the body's immune system attacks and destroys the glucose-responsive, insulin-secreting beta cells of the pancreas, resulting in a lifetime requirement of insulin replacement therapy.

The collaboration between JDRF and Novo Nordisk will focus on research originating from academia and biotechnology companies, as well as from internal research projects at Novo Nordisk.

“JDRF is deeply committed to developing immunotherapies, and especially auto antigen-specific immunotherapies for the prevention and cure of type 1 diabetes,” said Dr Richard Insel, JDRF's chief scientific officer. “This collaboration with Novo Nordisk affords an exciting opportunity to accelerate the timeframe when these therapies may prove to make an impact in type 1 diabetes.”

The collaboration with Novo Nordisk will be run out of the company's newly opened Type 1 Diabetes Research and Development (R&D) Centre in Seattle. The centre, led by Dr Matthias von Herrath, plans to employ 20 immunotherapy researchers working in Seattle supported by corporate R&D functions in Princeton, New Jersey and Denmark. The centre's goal is to use translational research methods to rapidly move early-stage discovery projects in immunotherapy from animal models into small clinical exploratory trials in T1D.

“It is not a coincidence that we are opening our new Type 1 Diabetes Research and Development Centre in Seattle at that same time that we announce a scientific partnership between our company and JDRF,” said Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen, executive vice president and chief science officer at Novo Nordisk. “Our new R&D centre is founded on the principle of reaching out to academia, biotechnology companies, and other key players in the international immunotherapy research community in order to join forces to develop the next treatment advance in the management of type 1 diabetes. At Novo Nordisk, our vision is to prevent, treat, and ultimately cure diabetes, and every collaboration down that path brings us closer to that goal.”