News briefs from Sanofi, EpiCept/Meda, Horizon/Grunenthal and Watson

French drug major Sanofi (Euronext: SAN) and the Joslin Diabetes Center, a teaching and research affiliate of Harvard Medical School, USA, have entered a new collaboration to promote the development of new drugs for the treatment of diabetes and related disorders.

Building on Joslin's experience in diabetes research and care, the collaboration will focus on four key areas within diabetes and related metabolic disorders to identify potential new biologics or small drug candidates for the treatment of late complications of diabetes and new insulin analogs with more targeted efficacy. Additionally, research will address the challenges of insulin resistance and personalized medicine. Under the terms of the accord, financial details of which are not disclosed, Sanofi has options to commercialize the results of the research. Both parties will have access to intellectual property for internal research.

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