Corporate Magazine 2012 - Boehringer Ingelheim

RESEARCH PARTNERSHIPS WITHACADEMIA AND INDUSTRYOur research teams can only tackle some of the most importantchallenges in medicine today if we work together with scientists andphysicians outside our organisation. We cooperate with academicinstitutions, non-profit research centres and external industrypartners. Together, we strive for excellence in both small moleculesand biotherapeutics and turn discovery into clinical practice.COOPERATIONSIN DIABETESIn order to develop new insightsinto the causes of diabetes,Boehringer Ingelheim has enteredinto cooperations with universities.Cooperations in diabetesBoehringer Ingelheim and GWT, acompany of the Technische UniversitätDresden AG (TUDAG) and the Departmentof Me dicine of the TechnischeUniversität Dresden (TU Dresden –Technical University Dresden) signed afive-year research collaboration agreementin 2012 to develop new insightsinto the causes of diabetes and the linkbetween excessive blood glucose, thehallmark of diabetes, and the seriouscomplications of the disease that canaffect many organ functions.We have initially defined six researchprojects, which range from exploringthe causes of insulin-producing betacell destruction to the cells and moleculestriggering diabetic complicationsin organs, such as the eye (diabeticretinopathy), which can lead to blindness,kidney (nephropathy), nerves(neuropathy) or skin (ulcerations).In 2012, Boehringer Ingelheim also enteredinto a four-year collaborationwith the Institute of Molecular HealthScience and the Institute of Food, Nutritionand Health, EidgenössischeTechnische Hochschule Zürich (ETHZurich) to achieve new insights into thedevelopment of diabetes and obesity.This joint collaboration effort will focuson investigating three cell typesthat may contribute to the onset of diseases,such as obesity and diabetes, becauseof their dominant role in metabolichomoeostasis.42 Boehringer Ingelheim annual report 2012