A team from ETH Zurich working on a new approach to treating diabetes awarded KPMG’s Inspiration Gra

In Switzerland alone, hundreds of thousands suffer from the metabolic disorder diabetes, with this figure expected to rise. For this reason, this year KPMG has once again awarded a KPMG’s Inspiration Grant to a promising research project by ETH Zurich, which focuses on diabetes and insulin resistance.

While existing methods of treating insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes manage to delay the course of the illness, success is by no means guaranteed in the longer term. Patients frequently suffer from serious secondary diseases such as heart attacks, strokes or kidney failure. The prize-winning research team at ETH Zurich under the leadership of biochemist Susanne Wolfrum and chemist Riccardo Cribiu has now succeeded in developing a new treatment approach that further limits the extent of these complications. The body’s own bile acid plays a crucial role here, influencing a specific protein (RORγ) that controls the development of fatty tissue and the body’s energy balance. Inhibiting this protein reduces resistance to insulin.

The researchers have already been able to demonstrate in their experiments that their method can significantly reduce the likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes. The new approach could conceivably be used as a primary or supplementary method of medicinal treatment, allowing it to be used in a wide range of applications and combinations.

In the longer term, the project team aims to establish its own research company, enabling it to fine-tune its innovation and, ultimately, to market it. A large number of patients could benefit from a product that improves the treatment of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes or even prevents these problems from occurring. More effective treatment and prevention would also forestall secondary diseases, saving considerable medical costs in the process.

KPMG promotes innovation in conjunction with ETH Zurich and EPFL

On the occasion of its 100th anniversary KPMG Switzerland worked together with ETH Zurich and EPFL to launch KPMG’s Inspiration Grant in early 2010. Funded through sponsorship projects by KPMG, this targeted instrument for promoting innovation distinguishes projects of a scientific nature and with entrepreneurial potential in the areas of healthcare and the environment that will make a socially relevant contribution to benefit future generations. KPMG’s Inspiration Grants provide important financial support for research projects to help them reach the next stage of development. Having projects selected by ETH Zurich and EPFL ensures the scientific nature of the projects as well as the sustainable use of the funds received.