Eli Lilly Opens Shanghai Center for Diabetes Research

CHINA – Eli Lilly and Co. announced the official opening of its Lilly China Research and Development Center (LCRDC), which will investigate novel diabetes medicines tailored specifically for the Chinese population.

Affecting nearly 90 million Chinese, diabetes is a significant national public health problem, due in part to longer life expectancies, dietary changes, and a sedentary lifestyle emerging in China.

Differences in the genetic makeup of Asian patients may also play a role in diabetes development and progression, and exploring these differences is a priority for the LCRDC, according to a statement from Eli Lilly.

“Conquering a devastating disease like diabetes requires innovation, collaboration and investment. The establishment of the Lilly China Research and Development Center demonstrates we are serious about discovering and developing desperately needed breakthrough medicines for Chinese people with diabetes,” said Jan M. Lundberg, Ph.D., executive vice president, science and technology, and president, Lilly Research Laboratories.

Unlike non-Asians with diabetes, Chinese people with diabetes have a significantly lower average body mass index (BMI) and a higher prevalence of abdominal obesity, fatty liver, and insulin resistance. Eli Lilly hopes that research to better understand these characteristics may offer opportunities for discovering new medicines to treat diabetes.

“Diabetes has reached epidemic proportions in China — there are more people in China with diabetes than in any other country in the world, with as many as three-quarters of them not having adequate control of their disease,” said Bei Betty Zhang, vice president, China Research and site head and general manager, LCRDC.

In the near term, the work at the LCRDC will focus on evaluating a pool of highly-selective targets with the potential to deliver robust candidates, helping to feed the Lilly portfolio with novel treatment opportunities.

Category: Education