Diabetes Research Unit
Sustaining Novo Nordisk’s leadership in diabetes care
The Diabetes Research Unit works to maintain Novo Nordisk’s leading position in diabetes care. Novo Nordisk is the only company that offers a complete portfolio of modern insulins, delivery devices, needles and health services and information to people with diabetes and their health care providers. Since the early 1920s, we have been pioneering a number of important innovations within the field of insulin and diabetes research. We strive to defeat diabetes by finding better methods of diabetes prevention, detection and treatment – or even a cure. We target our efforts on improving blood sugar control, which has proven to be critical for the prevention or delay of the serious complications of diabetes like heart disease. In addition, we are also interested in developing treatments that also address other risk factors for diabetes complications like obesity and high blood pressure, while avoiding the risk of hypoglycaemia (abnormally low blood sugar levels).
Our focus
diabetes pipeline includes insulin and GLP-1 analogues and other proteins that target different stages of diabetes and related co-morbidities like obesity. We are also currently applying expertise in protein delivery to the challenge of developing oral formulation insulin and GLP-1. Our human GLP-1 analogue, Victoza® (liraglutide), is one in a new class of products approved for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes. GLP-1 is a human hormone produced in the intestine that stimulates pancreatic insulin secretion in a glucose dependent manner and induces satiety (feeling of fullness after meals) via central nervous system-mediated effects.
Ultimately, we strive to find a cure for diabetes. We are at the forefront of stem cell research in this area with the aim of creating a safe and stable source of insulin-secreting cells for transplantation into people with Type 1 diabetes.
DRU is a global organisation
Novo Nordisk’s diabetes care leadership is based on our expertise within aetiology and pathophysiology of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. We continually expand our large international network, including academic institutions, clinical research centres and technology providers, in our quest for ensuring the competitiveness of our research programmes. We currently have diabetes research units in Denmark and China and will open a new type 1 diabetes research and development centre in Seattle, Washington, US in the summer of 2012. Our Denmark-based research includes the Hagedorn Research Institute, which conducts basic research in the following key discovery areas: Insulin and incretin biology; beta-cell biology, beta-cell regeneration, stem cell biology, diabetes inflammation and diabetes genetics. Furthermore, the type 1 diabetes site in Seattle will pursue a translational research approach characterised by combining basic research and early proof-of-concept trials under one R&D centre and will be located on the same campus as our Novo Nordisk Inflammation Research Center in Seattle, in order to foster potential synergies between the two sites.
The Diabetes Research Unit also coordinates nonclinical testing of all products in development at Novo Nordisk.
DRU partners for success
We are actively searching for academic partnerships, as well as collaborations with biotech companies involved in the development of proteins and peptides for the treatment of diabetes and obesity.
