Merck and EFSD to advance novel diabetes research

Despite its great potential, European diabetes research suffers from under-funding both at European Commission and national levels. The partnership aims to focus on one of the most important areas of advancement in diabetes research, beta cell function, survival and regeneration.

The EFSD has partnered with MSD​ to award grants to further research of beta cell structure and function, which is crucial to advancing treatment and possibly developing a cure for diabetes. Beta-cell dysfunction is a major factor contributing to the development of this disease.

Approximately 194 million people suffer from diabetes worldwide. This number will exceed 333 million by 2025 if nothing is done to slow this destructive epidemic.

In 2003, the three regions of the world with the largest numbers of diabetes sufferers were India with 35.5 million, China with 23.8 million and the United States with 16 million, with at least that same number in the European Union. In Europe, an estimated 22.5 million patients are believed to have diabetes.

At least 50 per cent of all people with diabetes are unaware of their condition and in some countries this figure may rise to 80 per cent.

The three-year programme will award a total of €1,400,000 for notable research in diabetes. A number of grants of up to €100,000 each have already been awarded and these will be announced at this year's European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) conference in Athens.

"The EFSD​ has entered into many partnerships but this is the first to focus exclusively on islet studies. Making this grant available to key researchers in this field will allow European diabetes research to be more competitive and hopefully move further towards a cure for diabetes,"​ Professor Philippe Halban, chair of the EFSD advisory board.

One of the areas most likely to require further exploration is the idea of islet cell transplantation - currently considered to be the most promising avenue to finding a cure for diabetes.

In islet transplantation, islets are extracted from the pancreas of a deceased donor and infused into a person with difficult-to-control type 1 diabetes though the portal vein of the liver. In successful transplants, the cells lodge in the liver's small blood vessels and begin producing insulin.

Human islets obtained from a single donor can reverse diabetes and can maintain function for years. In addition, the degree of blood sugar control that can be realised with functioning islet cells is comparable or even superior to that achieved with intensive insulin treatment.