December 22, 2016

Eli Lilly and Company, Roche Diagnostics, Regenstrief Institute, Indiana University Join with IBRI to Better Understand Causes of Disease

The Indiana Biosciences Research Institute (IBRI) today announced a new collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company, Roche Diagnostics, the Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University School of Medicine designed to better understand how type 2 diabetes varies in different patients, the first step to identifying new targets for the development of novel patient treatments and improved diagnostic tools. The first-of-its-kind partnership will have access to information on more than 800,000 type 2 diabetics in the State of Indiana.

“One of the areas of focus for the IBRI is the convergence between life science research, informatics and technology,” said David Broecker, President and CEO.  “Every life science organization is working to understand how to connect biology to technology to drive both new discoveries and interventions, particularly in complex diseases like diabetes.  Given our unique position as an independent research institute, the IBRI is able to bring together leading companies like Lilly and Roche with academic collaborators like Regenstrief and Indiana University to explore a big problem from multiple perspectives and data sources.  This is the essence of ‘big data’ and we believe that this initial project will lead to future collaborations in other areas.”

There are a wide variety of risk factors that can contribute to the development of  Type 2 diabetes including obesity, family history, ethnicity, gestational diabetes, diet, and exercise.  Diabetes is one of the leading causes of death in the United States and is associated with other health complications including cardio- and peripheral vascular disease, kidney disease, nerve damage, blindness and amputation. This collaborative project will analyze the available data in an effort to better understand each of the variations in type 2 diabetes patients and group those patients into subpopulations that share causes or complications from the disease. That ultimately would facilitate the development of more specialized treatments and interventions for the subpopulations.

“As a global leader in diabetes research and care, Lilly is pleased to be a part of this groundbreaking research taking place in our home state of Indiana,” said Darren Carroll, Senior Vice President of Corporate Business Development at Eli Lilly and Company. “The outcome of the work conducted by this collaboration will give us important and new insights into type 2 diabetes – hopefully leading us to improved therapies and tools to care for patients with this disease.”  

The data to be analyzed will come from the Regenstrief Institute’s Indiana Network of Patient Care database. The data set is drawn from across the state of Indiana, and provides a representative sample of type 2 diabetics that can be used to understand the variations of the disease in individuals across the nation.

"As a leader in diabetes management solutions we find it increasingly important to utilize data of large patient populations to ensure our customer solutions solve patient needs and create true medical value," said Brian Heald, Head of Global Research & Development, Roche Diabetes Care, Inc. "This research project will aid us in understanding the future potential to utilize predictive computational phenotyping to establish solutions for patients that help avoid disease complications and disease progression. The ultimate aim is to learn how to use insights from existing data to establish options to help people with diabetes live healthier lives."

The project is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2017.

About Indiana Biosciences Research Institute

The Indiana Biosciences Research Institute (IBRI) is an independent, nonprofit discovery science and applied research institute focused on innovation targeting cardio-metabolic diseases, diabetes and poor nutrition. Inspired by the state and Indiana’s leading life sciences companies, research universities and philanthropic community, the IBRI is building a world-class organization of researchers, innovators, and entrepreneurs that will catalyze scientific discovery and its application, resulting in improved health outcomes for patients. For more information about IBRI and donation or collaboration opportunities, please visit www.indianabiosciences.org.

About Eli Lilly and Company

Lilly is a global healthcare leader that unites caring with discovery to make life better for people around the world. We were founded more than a century ago by a man committed to creating high-quality medicines that meet real needs, and today we remain true to that mission in all our work. Across the globe, Lilly employees work to discover and bring life-changing medicines to those who need them, improve the understanding and management of disease, and give back to communities through philanthropy and volunteerism. To learn more about Lilly, please visit us at www.lilly.com and www.lilly.com/newsroom/social-channels .

About Roche Diagnostics

Roche is a global pioneer in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics focused on advancing science to improve people’s lives.

Roche is the world’s largest biotech company, with truly differentiated medicines in oncology, immunology, infectious diseases, ophthalmology and diseases of the central nervous system. Roche is also the world leader in in vitro diagnostics and tissue-based cancer diagnostics, and a frontrunner in diabetes management. The combined strengths of pharmaceuticals and diagnostics under one roof have made Roche the leader in personalised healthcare – a strategy that aims to fit the right treatment to each patient in the best way possible.

Founded in 1896, Roche continues to search for better ways to prevent, diagnose and treat diseases and make a sustainable contribution to society. Twenty-nine medicines developed by Roche are included in the World Health Organization Model Lists of Essential Medicines, among them life-saving antibiotics, antimalarials and cancer medicines. Roche has been recognised as the Group Leader in sustainability within the Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology & Life Sciences Industry eight years in a row by the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices.

The Roche Group, headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, is active in over 100 countries and in 2015 employed more than 91,700 people worldwide. In 2015, Roche invested CHF 9.3 billion in R&D and posted sales of CHF 48.1 billion. Genentech, in the United States, is a wholly owned member of the Roche Group. Roche is the majority shareholder in Chugai Pharmaceutical, Japan. For more information, please visit www.roche.com.

About Regenstrief Institute

Established in 1969 by industrial visionary and philanthropist Sam Regenstrief, the Regenstrief Institute, Inc., is a global leader dedicated to improving health and healthcare through innovations and research in biomedical informatics, health services, and aging. Regenstrief is a faculty-led supporting organization of the Indiana University School of Medicine, and has several regional partners which include IU Health, Eskenazi Health, and the Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center.

About Indiana University School of Medicine

Indiana University School of Medicine is one of the nation's premier medical schools and is a leader and innovator in medical education, research and clinical care. The country's largest medical school, IU School of Medicine educates more than 1,600 medical and graduate degree students on nine campuses in Indiana, and its faculty holds more than $300 million in research grants and contracts, to advance the School's missions and promote life sciences. For more information please visit http://medicine.iu.edu.