BRI and Novo Nordisk Collaborate on Autoimmune Disease Research
- By BSTQ Staff
Novo Nordisk and Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason (BRI), Seattle,Wash., have entered into a threeyear collaborative agreement to potentially speed up translational research of the diagnosis and treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and lupus. The agreement establishes how Novo Nordisk and BRI research scientists and clinicians will collaboratively develop studies to better understand changes in the immune systems of patients living with these autoimmune diseases. The intent is to develop better therapies and improve how these treatments are used.
“Translational research” describes a research approach that seeks to move discoveries made in laboratory, clinical or population studies more quickly into clinical care. In this specific agreement, BRI scientists and Novo Nordisk researchers at the company’s Seattle research center will work together to study samples and data registered in BRI’s biobank of patients with these diseases, as well as people with no history of autoimmune disorders. The personal information of these patients will not be disclosed.
“Improving patient care through innovation is at the heart of our company culture, and this agreement represents one way that we can work together with the larger healthcare research community to achieve this objective,” said Per Falk, senior vice president, Biopharmaceuticals Research Unit, Novo Nordisk. “We’re pleased to be working closely with the Seattle scientific community, which is sharing its best and brightest with us in an effort to bring new medicines for patients.” In the United States alone, as many as 1.5 million people suffer from rheumatoid arthritis or inflammatory bowel disease, and more than half a million people suffer from lupus.