Dhaka, Bangladesh (BBN) – Novo Nordisk and Oxford University have teamed up to develop new treatments for rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory diseases, a company announcement said.
Novo Nordisk and the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology at Oxford University announced a partnership to develop new drug candidates and identify novel biomarkers and treatment targets for rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune inflammatory diseases.
“We are excited to have this chance to further develop our autoimmune inflammatory disease pipeline in close collaboration with such a world-class translational research centre as the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology,” said Per Falk, senior vice president of the Biopharmaceutical Research Unit at Novo Nordisk.
Sir Marc Feldmann, head of the institute, and his colleague Sir Ravinder Maini, discovered the efficacy of anti-tumour necrosis factor or anti-TNF treatment, a class of drugs used as the current standard of care for moderate-to-severe rheumatoid arthritis.
“We are keen to do clinical research on truly innovative ideas that have the potential to improve how patients with autoimmune inflammatory disease are treated today,” Professor Feldmann said.
Novo Nordisk will fund 10 Oxford researchers at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology.
BBN/SSR/AD-30Apr12-11:30 am (BST)
