France’s Sanofi-Aventis (NYSE:[[ticker:SNY]]) is tapping into the diabetes expertise at Columbia University Medical Center, signing a three-year deal with the college to investigate new diabetes treatments. According to a statement from Sanofi, the partnership will focus on a hormone called osteocalcin, which influences blood sugar and fat deposition. Columbia professor Gerard Karsenty, who chairs Columbia’s department of genetics and development, will lead the Sanofi partnership. In 2007, Karsenty (also a New York Xconomist), published a paper in the journal Cell in 2007 describing how the bone-forming cells known as osteoblasts produce osteocalcin-a discovery that the folks at Sanofi believe could open doors to new diabetes treatments.
Author: Arlene Weintraub
Arlene is an award-winning journalist specializing in life sciences and technology. She was previously a senior health writer based out of the New York City headquarters of BusinessWeek, where she wrote hundreds of articles that explored both the science and business of health. Her freelance pieces have been published in USA Today, US News & World Report, Technology Review, and other media outlets. Arlene has won awards from the New York Press Club, the Association of Health Care Journalists, the Foundation for Biomedical Research, and the American Society of Business Publication Editors. Her book about the anti-aging industry, Selling the Fountain of Youth, was published by Basic Books in September 2010.
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