Scripps/Harvard research offers hope for better treatments for diabetics

In a joint study, scientists from The Scripps Research Institute and Harvard University's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have established a new class of anti-diabetic compound that targets a unique molecular switch.

The finding paves the way for the development of anti-diabetic therapeutics with minimal adverse side effects plaguing currently available drugs such as Avandia (rosiglitazone, from GlaxoSmithKline), scheduled to be removed from pharmacy shelves this fall due to concerns about increased risk of heart attack.

The new study, led by Patrick Griffin, professor and chairman of the Department of Molecular Therapeutics at Scripps Florida, Bruce Spiegelman, professor of cell biology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Theodore Kamenecka, associate scientific director of medicinal chemistry at Scripps Florida, was published September 4, in the journal Nature. The study describes a new compound known as SR1664.