KAKEN PHARMACEUTICAL CO., LTD. and the Institute for Diabetes Discovery, L.L.C. Announce Joint Drug Discovery Program for Insulin Resistance in Type II Diabetes(December 14, 2000)
Tokyo, December 14, 2000: KAKEN PHARMACEUTICAL CO., LTD. ( president and CEO: Shiro Inui ), Tokyo, Japan, is pleased to announce a partnership with the Institute for Diabetes Discovery, L.L.C. ( President and CEO: James M. Nolan. ), CT., U.S.A ( IDD ) in a drug discovery program for insulin resistance in Type II diabetes.

The collaboration between KAKEN and IDD will focus on PTPase inhibitors, a class of potent and selective inhibitors considered relevant for the insulin signal transduction pathway. The program will potentially lead to the development of novel, orally active drugs to enhance insulin action.

IDD is the flagship institute for the Institutes for Pharmaceutical Discovery, L.L.C., ( IPD ) a privately held pharmaceutical discovery company in Branford, CT. IDD is a leading biopharmaceutical company in the U.S. specializing in the discovery and preclinical development of small molecule drugs for the prevention and treatment of obesity, diabetes, and its complications, which can lead to blindness, amputation, and kidney and heart disease.

KAKEN has been focusing its drug discovery research on inflammation and bone disease. This collaboration on antidiabetic agent will be a part of KAKEN's effort to expand its reseach field and activity.