DRUGMAKER SIGNS PACT WITH CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES

China's diabetes research sector got a boost this week when Novo Nordisk and the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) announced they signed an agreement to establish a joint research foundation.

The aim of collaboration is to fund or co-fund activities of common interest within the fields of diabetes and biopharmaceuticals, including related disciplines and technologies such as protein chemistry, immunology, inflammation, toxicology, oncology, endocrinology and drug delivery.

"Chinese and Danish scientists share a history of excellent collaborations which the new foundation will further strengthen," Chen Zhu, CAS vice president, said. "Novo Nordisk is well recognized in China for its major role in preventing and treating diabetes."

In 2002 Novo Nordisk established a R&D center in Beijing, which was the first such center established in China by an international biopharmaceutical company. Under the new collaboration, the company has agreed to dedicate $2 million in funding for diabetes research. The company also said it plans to continue to launch new products in China and further increase its R&D presence in the country.