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The DDZ Opens New Center of Competence for Innovative Diabetes Therapy (KomIT) Comprised of Eight Partners

In a festive ceremony, the German Diabetes Center (DDZ) officially opened its new Competence Center for Innovative Diabetes Therapy (KomIT), a consortium of eight partners. The consortium from industry and university research aims to advance the development of new therapies for diabetes. The objective of the Center, coordinated by the DDZ, is the efficient translation of innovative research results into clinical applications to improve patients’ diabetes management. The project will receive funding from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the EU amounting to around 3.5 million euros over the next three years.

(From left): Prof. Dr. Andreas Meyer-Falcke (Commissioner for Health of the City of Düsseldorf), Christoph Dammermann (State Secretary, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digitalization and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Prof. Dr. Anja Steinbeck (Rector of the Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf), Prof. Dr. Dirk Müller-Wieland (Member of the Board of the German Diabetes Association), Prof. Dr. Michael Roden (Director of the German Diabetes Center) and Prof. Dr. Jürgen Eckel (Managing Director of KomIT) at the opening event. Source: DDZ

The central idea of the new KomIT is the establishment of a sustainable infrastructure which combines expertise ranging from management, development and medical chemistry, pre-clinical studies, analytics, toxicology and physiology up to and including clinical trials and which provides an open platform for NRW, Germany and Europe. "Through joint research activities, we want to bundle our competencies in order to accelerate translation so that people affected by diabetes can benefit more quickly from new basic research findings," said Professor Michael Roden, director of the German Diabetes Center and coordinator of the new Competence Center for Innovative Diabetes Therapy (KomIT) at the festive opening ceremony.

The steadily rising number of diabetes patients in Germany has a great socio-economic impact on the healthcare system. Christoph Dammermann, State Secretary of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Innovation, Digitalization and Energy of North Rhine-Westphalia said: "With the Center of Competence for Innovative Diabetes Therapy, a thus far unique research infrastructure is being created that combines innovative and digital approaches to comprehensive diabetes therapy. The Center will sustainably shape our healthcare system and strengthen North Rhine-Westphalia as a location for business and innovation." In his welcome address, Professor Andreas Meyer-Falcke, commissioner for Health  of the City of Düsseldorf, focused on the people affected by diabetes. “For them,” he said,  “it is important to benefit as quickly as possible from novel research results in order to maintain or regain their quality of life.” In addition to the German Diabetes Center (DDZ), KomIT also includes Algiax Pharmaceuticals GmbH, Taros Chemicals GmbH & Co. KG, Lead Discovery Center GmbH (LDC), vivo Science GmbH, A & M Laboratory for Analysis and Metabolism Research Service GmbH, PROFIL Institute for Metabolism Research GmbH and TU Dortmund University with the Drug Discovery Hub Dortmund (DDHD).

In North Rhine-Westphalia, excellent basic research with clinical-experimental diabetes studies has been carried out for a long time. However, the translation of these results into clinical applications is currently not yet sufficient to generate sustainable economic development. Start-ups and small companies with high innovation potential are often unable to carry out complex experimental and clinical research with critical mass and the necessary speed. This will be the starting point for the new interdisciplinary Center of Competence for Innovative Diabetes Therapy (KomIT). This novel research infrastructure will provide important impetus for the pharmaceutical and biotech sector in NRW and will also sustainably strengthen the innovative strength and competitiveness of the state of NRW. The project is funded by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the European Union as part of the EFRE. NRW program – Investments in Growth and Employment of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Link: https://www.efre.nrw.de