The four-year collaboraton will primarily focus on investigating three cell types expected to add to the onset of obesity and diabetes due to their dominant role in metabolic homoeostasis.
ETH Zurich research and corporate relations vice president Professor Roland Siegwart said, "We are excited to engage in this research collaboration to investigate basic mechanism of metabolic disease and possible treatments, which also reflects the strategic initiatives of ETH Zurich in the area of heath science."
Boehringer and the ETH Zurich defined four initial research projects to investigate the function of surface proteins and signalling pathways of neuroendocrine cells in the pancreatic islets and the intestine to understand the brown fat tissue development.
The the results from the research studies are expected to either enable the design of new drug candidates for clinical testing or optimise the application of medical treatments so as to maximise clinical benefit in specific patient populations.
Boehringer corporate senior vice president research Professor Wolfgang Rettig said, "This collaboration will provide new insights into the pathophysiology of diabetes and obesity and will further bolster our efforts to find innovative medicines for the treatment of these prevalent diseases."