DIABETES: A WIDESPREAD DISEASE IN INDIA

BIOTECH COLLABORATION: Danish researchers are among the world’s most knowledgeable regarding diabetes. And Indian researchers are excellent at medicinal chemistry. By collaborating, the parties can develop new and better drugs for the treatment of diabetes and obesity.

India has some of the world’s best researchers in medicinal chemistry, according to managing director of biotech company Rheoscience, Philip Just Larsen. And India has many of them, while Denmark has too few. On the other hand, Danish researchers know plenty about diabetes, which is growing to epidemic proportions in India. By combining competencies, Philip Just Larsen sees great opportunities in a Danish-Indian collaboration.

“Large sections of the Indian population are genetically predisposed to develop type 2 diabetes,” says Philip Just Larsen. “And the changing lifestyle which is currently happening in India, with changing eating habits, rapid growth in the number of people with sedentary jobs and thus a lack of exercise, has triggered an explosion of the obesity problem in India too. And along with obesity comes type 2 diabetes.”

Director of biotech company Rheoscience, Philip Just Larsen.

Fewer side effects

The scale of the problem is demonstrated by forecasts predicting that the number of Indians with diabetes will exceed 100 million by 2025. That is why the Indian medicinal giant Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories is focusing on finding new drugs for the treatment of diabetes.

“In collaboration with Novo Nordisk, which is one of the world’s most active companies in diabetes research and a major producer of insulin, Dr. Reddy developed a drug for the treatment of type 2 diabetes,” says Just Larsen. “However Novo Nordisk withdrew from the collaboration. Our company Rheo-science has now taken over further development together with Dr. Reddy and Center for Clinical and Basic Research, CCBR, which we originate from. We contribute our knowledge of diabetes, CCBR supplies the test material and Dr. Reddy supplies the active substance. The product, which is on its way to phase III clinical development, is called balaglitazone. It is a product which dramatically improves insulin sensitivity and with probably fewer side effects than seen so far with these types of drugs.”

Bridgehead to India

Rheoscience A/S conducts contract research, especially in obesity and diabetes. The company also has its own research programme. Rheoscience has outsourced part of the research to India’s Aurigene in Bangalore. The contract with Aurigene comprises employing 15 people for three years, and the collaboration is excellent, according to Philip Just Larsen.

“The collaboration is working so well that we have opened our own office in Bangalore which we will use as a bridgehead to the Indian market.”