MediGene/JDRF in diabetes accord

Germany's MediGene, through its wholly-owned UK subsidiary in Oxford (formerly Avidex), has entered into a funded collaborative research program with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Through its industry discovery and development partnership program, the JDRF is providing financial support for the advancement of monoclonal T cell receptor (mTCR) therapeutics that aim to prevent the destruction of insulin producing beta cells which occurs with the onset of type 1 diabetes. The JDRF deal with MediGene is for two years to accelerate ongoing proof-of-concept studies into the clinic.

Ulrich Delvos, MediGene's chief operating officer, said: "provided autoimmune destruction can be tamed, both the early diagnosis of pre-diabetic individuals and the recent advances in islet transplantation therapy offer the prospect of patients being able to maintain endogenous insulin production, with consequent improvements in quality of life. MediGene's mTCR technology holds the promise of tackling the underlying cause of this autoimmune disease."