Johnson & Johnson to collaborate with Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation

NEW YORK Drug maker Johnson & Johnson will work with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation to develop drugs that keep alive insulin-producing cells in people with Type 1 diabetes, the JDRF announced Thursday.

The program will fund academic research in various countries that could lead to the development of drugs to treat the disease, soliciting grant proposals from academia and medical research foundations for research projects lasting one to two years.

"This program will clearly help accelerate the translation of basic research into therapies useful in the treatment of diabetes," JDRF president and CEO Alan Lewis said. "By creating this novel incubator program to support early-stage research with a company known for first-class research and significant experience in the commercialization of products, we believe we can increase the number of viable drug targets identified and fundamentally change the pace of diabetes research."