Irish biotech Nuritas receives EU funding for type 2 diabetes prevention research

An Irish biotech research and development firm has received €3 million of funding for trials investigating the prevention of type 2 diabetes.
Nuritas is a small Dublin company that is planning to test its new product over the next 18 months, having received funding for trials from the EU’s Horizon 2020 fund.
These clinical trials will assess a peptide – which are molecules in food and food byproducts – that is hoped to be able to stop people with prediabetes developing type 2 diabetes.
Peptides are used by the life sciences sector in supplements and new drugs, and Nuritas’ technology enables the discovery of peptides up to 10 times faster than traditional research techniques and at a much lower cost.
Nuritas CEO Emmet Browne said: “This peptide carries huge potential to bridge an enormous gap in medical science and act as a major weapon in the global battle against diabetes, now recognised as a full-blown epidemic.
“This is a hugely important validation for Nuritas and our use of cutting-edge artificial intelligence driven technology to transform the future of disease prevention and food around the globe.
“While we have a rich pipeline of similar breakthrough peptides, all found from natural sources with amazing scientific potential, diabetes prevention now becomes Nuritas’ first important area of focus, with many more to follow.”
If the product gains European approval following successful trials, the company hopes this peptide could be used in food products across the EU by 2020.
Professor Emeritus Lawrence Frohma, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, added: “The Nuritas clinical studies represent an exciting venture and bring new hope in developing this important field of disease prevention.”