Boston, CA -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/06/2012 -- Peter T. Lomedico, Director of Industry Partnerships, Cure Therapies at Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation [JDRF] will participate in the panel discussion called “Partnering with Non-Profits” at the 2nd Diabetes Summit to be held on April 19-20, 2012 in Boston, MA by GTC.

Other panelists in the panel discussion include James Lenhard at Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson and Johnson and Dennis Urbaniak at Sanofi-Aventis. Together they will hold a lively discussion on the expectations in partnering with a foundation, how to form a partnership, the benefits of partnering with a foundation and much more.

JDRF is the leading global organization focused on type 1 diabetes (T1D) research. Driven by passionate, grassroots volunteers connected to children, adolescents, and adults with this disease, JDRF is now the largest charitable supporter of T1D research. The goal of JDRF research is to improve the lives of all people affected by T1D by accelerating progress on the most promising opportunities for curing, better treating, and preventing T1D. JDRF collaborates with a wide spectrum of partners who share this goal. Since its founding in 1970, JDRF has awarded more than $1.6 billion to diabetes research.

JDRF seeks to create partnerships with biotech and pharmaceutical companies focused on the discovery, development, and commercialization of therapeutics and devices for type 1 diabetes.

JDRF particularly encourages partnerships: (a) to translate early-stage academic and industry research discoveries with the goal of identifying more advanced therapeutic candidates, (b) to conduct testing of therapeutic candidates in relevant animal models or in people, and (c) to work closely with private and public capital allocators to leverage funds and source opportunities in our strategic areas.

Partnerships are focused on creating opportunities for JDRF to foster long-term collaborative relationships with industry, taking promising research through discovery and development, and toward commercialization.

With more than 400 drug candidates for diabetes in active development and in light of the recent US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidance to assess cardiovascular risk in clinical trials, the burden to develop novel drugs is greater and the barrier for success has become higher than ever. What will be the next block-buster drug target for T1DM and T2DM? How does the recent FDA guidance affect our approach to develop new medications for diabetes? How do different size companies adapt the best strategy to be competitive in this field?

Come and join other diabetes experts at GTC’s 2nd Diabetes Summit and hear key thought-leader's opinions to these questions and many more.

This important meeting will be held on April 19-20, 2012 in Boston, MA. The conference will bring together the leading experts on diabetes from both industry and academia to discuss novel targets for diabetes, lessons to learn from current clinical drug development, and business strategies and opportunities under the current regulatory landscape.

The 2nd Diabetes Summit will consist of 2 tracks:

5th Diabetes Drug Discovery and Development
2nd Diabetes Partnering & Deal Making

For more information, please visit http://www.gtcbio.com
Event Website:
http://www.gtcbio.com/component/conference/?file=home&cn=Diabetes+Summit&cid=20