J&J Innovation, Janssen, And Joslin Diabetes To Pump Up Exercise-Related Targets

Joslin Diabetes Center is teaming up with Johnson & Johnson Innovation and its affiliate Janssen Research & Development with the aim of identifing and advancing early-stage, novel therapeutic projects for potential for commercialization and product development. Their first project: identifying exercise-related drug targets for developing new diabetes treatments. 

This alliance is based on studies by Joslin researchers showing that exercise can train multiple tissues in the body that in turn stimulate metabolic improvements in other tissues. Earlier this year at the American Diabetes Association's Scientific Sessions, Laurie Goodyear, Ph.D., co-head of the Integrative Physiology and Metabolism Section at Joslin and senior investigator on this research, reported that, while the concept of tissue-to-tissue communication is not new, "more recently we have realized that 'trained' tissues may communicate to beneficially affect other tissues....Our efforts now are to derive specific factors that help this effect and explore the development into potential therapies for diabetes."

"Joslin is uniquely positioned to translate findings in the laboratory into new approaches for treatment of diabetes, and our alliance with Johnson & Johnson Innovation and Janssen Research & Development is an excellent example of how we can move our early discoveries to the clinic with our complementary capabilities," said Nandan Padukone, Ph.D., vp of commercialization and ventures at Joslin, in a statement. 

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