JDRF Partners With Pfizer’s Centers for Therapeutic Innovation (CTI) To Support Diabetes Research
On November 4, JDRF announced a partnership with Pfizer’s Centers for Therapeutic Innovation (CTI) to support what they call promising diabetes research in collaboration with academic researchers from JDRF’s network. The work will start by focusing on co-funding four projects in immune tolerance (how to prevent the immune system from attacking wanted cells), diabetic nephropathy (kidney disease), and beta cell health (how insulin-producing cells can continue to function well).
Pfizer’s CTI has its experienced drug developers working alongside scientists from leading academic medical centers to move promising therapies from the lab and to patients in the clinic. JDRF and CTI will jointly select what it thinks are the best projects and then guide the research forward to help these experimental therapies reach the market. These public-private partnerships will be increasingly important given the complicated drug development process and reduced funding in the field. In an interview with JDRF, we learned that Pfizer’s CTI will be involved in the process beyond just funding projects, and their approach will be an attractive model for researchers interested in translating basic research to practical outcomes. The fresh approach sounds promising and it’s welcome news to hear Pfizer will pursue more research in type 1 diabetes. –NL
