Press release March 2019

New Center of Competence for Innovative Diabetes Therapy (KomIT) funded by NRW and EU

Gronau, March 2019

Over the next three years, vivo Science GmbH will work closely with a consortium of eight partners from industry and academia (molecular biology and cellular metabolic physiology) in the search for new drugs to treat diabetes. At the German Diabetes Center (DDZ), a new competence center will be set up in the next three years with funds from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the EU amounting to around 3.5 million euros. The aim of the Center, coordinated by the DDZ, is to efficiently translate innovative research results into clinical use to improve patient diabetes management.

The rapidly increasing number of diabetes patients in Germany, as well as the associated socio-economic burden on the healthcare system, urgently requires the development of new approaches to causal therapies.

„Together with our partners we aim to establish a sustainable infrastructure, to bring innovative approaches of diabetes therapy rapidly and directly to the patients“ explains Prof. Michael Roden, scientific Director of the German Diabetes Center and coordinator of the new Center of Competence for Innovative Diabetes Therapy (KomIT). „Our joint activities aim to bundle expertise, finally leading to scientific and technological break-throughs in diabetes research“. In addition to vivo Science and the German Diabetes Center, the other partners are: Algiax Pharmaceuticals GmbH, Taros Chemicals GmbH & Co. KG, Lead Discovery Center GmbH (LDC), A & M Labor für Analytik und Metabolismusforschung Service GmbH, PROFIL Institut für Stoffwechselforschung GmbH, and TU Dortmund with the Drug Discovery Hub Dortmund (DDHD).

In North Rhine-Westphalia, excellent basic research in the field of clinical-experimental diabetes studies is conducted for a long time. However, translation of these results into clinical applications is not yet sufficient to generate an economic boost. For start-ups and small companies with high innovation potential it is often not possible to carry out extensive experimental and clinical research with sufficient critical mass. At this point, the new Center of Competence provides strategic support. Leading idea is to build up a sustainable infrastructure that combines expertise from management, medicinal chemistry, preclinical and analytical studies, toxicology and physiology, up to clinical testing.


This novel research infrastructure provides a strong boost for the pharma and biotech sector in Northrhine-Westphalia and supports innovation and competitiveness in NRW. The project is funded within the program „EFRE.NRW – Investitionen in Wachstum und Beschäftigung“ supported by NRW and the Europen Union.

More information about KomIT