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National Disease Research Interchange Receives Funding Commitment for Rare Disease Initiative

Posted on: Tuesday, 5 December 2006, 09:00 CST

Building on a longstanding relationship, Genzyme Corporation has presented a check for $50,000, the first of a five-year installment to the National Disease Research Interchange to support the growth and development of NDRI's new National Rare Disease Biomaterials Resource. The program will expand on NDRI's successful rare disease pilot initiative to provide human tissue resources for investigators in the field of rare diseases.

John McPherson, Ph.D., Genzyme's Senior Vice President of Cell and Protein Research and Development, presented the initial check to Lee Ducat, Founder and President of NDRI, at "An Evening to Celebrate Research" December 4 at the Rittenhouse Hotel. The dinner honored scientists who have partnered with NDRI to use donated human tissues to further research in islet cell transplantation, eye diseases, and rare diseases.

"We are grateful to the Genzyme Corporation for their generous donation and their ongoing commitment to our partnership," Ducat said. "Rare disease research is one of NDRI's principal areas of focus, and this gift ensures that this important work will not only continue, but grow."

More than 6,000 rare or "orphan" diseases -- those with an incidence in the United States of fewer than 200,000 cases per year -- have been identified. There is a significant demand for tissues from this vast, but widely dispersed pool of potential donors. NDRI's pilot program has served some 90 scientists in more than 100 rare diseases. NDRI's current tissue catalogue contains disease-relevant frozen specimens from rare diseases including ALS, amyloidosis, Batten disease, DiGeorge syndrome, Huntington's disease, Lewy body dementia, Marfan syndrome, muscular dystrophy, lupus, progressive supranuclear palsy, and sarcoidosis. NDRI has built a significant alliance of rare disease organizations to address the unmet need for human tissues in rare disease studies.

Genzyme has pledged to contribute $50,000 a year for the next five years to NDRI to increase the supply of donated human tissues and donor DNA and cell lines for investigators studying rare diseases. NDRI has supplied human tissue for Genzyme's tissue engineering initiatives around cartilage repair and cardiac cell therapy, and most recently for development of a device to help patients with acute renal failure. NDRI has also worked with Genzyme in the context of both stem cell and islet cell research programs.

In helping to augment NDRI's Rare Disease Biomaterials Resource, McPherson said, "Investigators from both academic institutions and industry will gain a better understanding of the nature of these diseases and the specific pathophysiologies that are contributing to the mortality and morbidity associated with them. We are confident NDRI will put our seed money to good use."

About the National Disease Research Interchange (NDRI):

The non-profit NDRI was established in 1980 to provide research scientists with the human tissue samples necessary to study human systems and human disease. In the past 20 years, NDRI has served some 5,000 scientists with more than 200,000 human biomaterials, leading to more than 2,500 papers published in scholarly journals on diseases from diabetes to cancer to HIV and rare diseases. Funded in part by the National Institutes of Health, NDRI obtains tissues that would ordinarily be discarded and distributes them to the top research institutions in the world. Institutions working with NDRI include the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mt Sinai School of Medicine, Duke University, Baylor College of Medicine, the Wistar Institute, the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Stanford University, and the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, among others. NDRI also has a strong tradition of working with top pharma and biotech R&D programs nationwide.

For more information about NDRI, please call 1-800-222-6374 or visit www.ndriresource.org.

About Genzyme Corporation:

Founded in Boston in 1981, Genzyme has grown from a small start-up to a diversified enterprise with annual revenues exceeding $2 billion and more than 8,500 employees in locations spanning the globe. The company's products and services are focused on rare inherited disorders, kidney disease, orthopaedics, transplant and immune disease, cancer, and diagnostic testing. Genzyme's commitment to innovation continues today with a substantial research and development program focused on genetic diseases, immune system disorders, heart disease, and cancer.

For more information about Genzyme Corporation, please call (617) 252-7500 or visit www.genzyme.com.

Source: Business Wire

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