NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – Novartis' genomics research arm will collaborate with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) in a drug discovery and development program focused on Type 1 diabetes, JDRF said on Wednesday.
The Genomics Institute of the Novartis Foundation (GNF) will collaborate with JDRF in a four-year program that will be overseen by a review committee made up of GNF and JDRF members and by a scientific advisory board and JDRF volunteers.
San Diego-based GNF conducts genomics and proteomics research that includes high-throughput screening of genes and compounds, structural genomics, and mammalian genetics, among others.
The overall aim of the partnership is to "deliver a succession of drug candidates over the next four years," and it will initially focus on pancreatic beta cell regeneration and survival in order to restore beta cell function in diabetes, JDRF said.
The collaboration will build on current JDRF funding at GNF that already has resulted in the discovery of beta cell regeneration drug targets and candidates, the foundation said, although specific information about the funding was not disclosed.