International consortium granted funds to develop obesity treatments

An international consortium of academic and industry leaders has been awarded a European Community Sixth Framework grant to discover new genetic targets for the treatment of obesity. The grant, which is worth €11.7m over five years, will support the discovery of four to five new drug targets for the treatment and prevention of obesity and its complications, including Type II Diabetes.

Among the recipients of the grant are obesity researcher Professor Steve O'Rahilly, university chair and professor of metabolic medicine at Cambridge University in the UK, and German drug discovery company Ingenium Pharmaceuticals, both of which are focusing their research on the understanding of the pathophysiological fundamentals of obesity.

Ingenium's business is based on generating the biological information critical to the discovery, validation and development of therapeutics. Its Deductive Genomics technology combines genome-covering mutagenesis in the murine model system with a proprietary, therapeutic goal-oriented biological screen. The company's INGENOtyping platform offers rapid access to innovative murine models for drug discovery research.

'Although the genetic component of obesity has been scientifically accepted, we are still at a stage where the disease state is so complex, that in order to identify truly effective ways to treat it, we must use a multidisciplinary approach,' said Professor O'Rahilly. 'This grant provides an exciting way for academic research and biotechnology companies to intensify their interaction to better understand the different biological facets of this complex disease.'