Project hopes to develop novel diabetes therapies that protect beta cells.
DeveloGen garnered a $500,000 grant from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation to fund a project focused on developing new approaches to protecting insulin-producing beta cells. The work will be carried out in partnership with the Istituto San Raffaele in Milan.
DeveloGen is focused on the discovery and development of novel therapeutics for the treatment of metabolic and endocrine disorders, in particular diabetes. The firm’s aim is to identify and exploit mechanisms involved in the dynamic regulation of beta-cell mass to develop drugs that stimulate the regeneration or protection of beta cells in diabetic patients.
In 2006, DeveloGen received its first grant from JDRF to support the development of new approaches to beta-cell regeneration. The firm claims ongoing research has identified novel secreted factors from early embryonic stages of pancreas development that demonstrate the ability to stimulate beta-cell differentiation and/or proliferation.
