Benaroya Research Institute at Virginia Mason (BRI), a non-profit biomedical research institute in Seattle, Wash., and Novo Nordisk, a global health care company headquartered in Denmark, today announced a three-year 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 BRI 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 people with no history of autoimmune disorders. The personal information of these patients will not be disclosed.
"This is the first time we have established a collaborative agreement like this and we're pleased to be working so closely with Novo Nordisk to integrate scientific discovery, the development of diagnostic and treatment solutions and their clinical application," said BRI Associate Director Jane Buckner, MD, a practicing rheumatologist and leader of the Kenneth R. Wilske Center for Translational Research at Virginia Mason. "We anticipate that this will accelerate as never before our ability to better understand, diagnose and treat these illnesses."
"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 health care 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."
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