As a type 1 diabetic, I relished the news that Johnson Johnson’s (JJ’s) subsidiary Janssen has joined the crusade to treat diabetes through drugs which trigger beta cell regeneration. Janssen is making its foray into this exciting world through a licensing deal with Evotec and Harvard University. Based on the terms of the agreement, Janssen is paying an upfront sum of USD8 million for rights to the targets, with a further potential of USD 200 to 300 million dollars per product resulting from the collaboration.
The targets in question are a result of an international collaboration between Harvard University, Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), and Evotec. The project, termed the CureBeta Initiative, has been churning out potential targets since its inception in 2011.
Although the collaboration was already very promising before Janssen entered the milieu, the fact that it now has the muscle of JJ behind it means that the pipeline isn’t only a pipe dream. Moreover, the pharma giant would have done due diligence and would have had to have seen promise in this technology before investing.
And who could blame them as the theory/premise behind the technology is that it could actually cure diabetes, not just treat it. Loss of beta cell function is key in both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. However, the extent of destruction differs: in type 1 the immune system attacks and eradicates virtually all of the cells; in type 2, there is a gradual loss of function due most often to a mix of environmental and genetic factors.
Treatments which support beta cell regeneration have the potential to restore the body’s ability to produce insulin, but, reversing type 1 diabetes—especially when the disease is long-standing and beta cells are basically non-existent—will be a much more difficult endeavour.
I’m further optimistic about the positive trajectory that diabetes treatment is taking given that these deals between industry and academia are no longer the exception, but the norm, with Diabetes appearing to be the disease which is serving as the testing ground for collaborations between industry and academia. Just last month, Sanofi announced that it would be collaborating with the Joslin Diabetes Centre. The two heavy hitters will be focusing on developing new drugs for the disease and related complications as well as discerning the causes of insulin resistance. As a former patient of the Joslin Diabetes Centre, I have great faith in this initiative.
Since I was diagnosed with diabetes at age 6, people have been telling me not to worry, that a cure is just around the corner. After 25 years with the disease, I’m finally starting to believe them.
