The BioIndustry Association announces JDRF as its charity of the year

The BIA will be supporting the charity to raise funds and will be working with the JDRF team to see how the two organisations can work together to promote the vital role that UK bioscience plays in solving unmet patient need.

JDRF funds research to cure, treat and prevent type 1 diabetes. The charity works with government, academia and industry to accelerate research in the UK and within healthcare policy to ensure that the outcomes of research are delivered to people with type 1 in the UK. It also gives support and a voice to people with type 1 and their families.

 Karen Addington, Chief Executive of JDRF in the UK said: “We are delighted to have been announced as the BIA’s charity of the year for 2016 and look forward to a successful partnership with the opportunity to accelerate the delivery of new treatments to patients with type 1 diabetes.’ 

BIA Chief Executive, Steve Bates, said: “Increased understanding of the immune attack that causes type 1 means that we are closer than ever to eradicating the condition. UK scientists are working together to produce revolutionary new treatments that could both cure and prevent type 1, a condition which can have a devastating impact on those who live with it and their families. The whole team at the BIA is excited to be supporting the work of JDRF in 2016 and the gala dinner will ensure that this partnership gets off to a successful start.”

BIA members working on diabetes research and treatment include Lilly UK, MSD, Pfizer Global Research & Development and Therakind.   

The first event for the charity partnership will be the BIA’s flagship Gala Dinner on 28 January 2016, where more than 600 guests from the biotech sector will gather at the Natural History Museum in London. For more information on the event go to www.biagaladinner.org

Notes to editors

Contact

Ed Sexton

Communications Manager, BioIndustry Association

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 020 7630 2196 // 07825 942934

About JDRF

JDRF is the leading global organization funding type 1 diabetes research. Our mission is to accelerate life-changing breakthroughs to cure, prevent and treat type 1 diabetes and its complications. To accomplish this, JDRF has invested more than £1 billion since our inception. We collaborate with the most talented minds to develop and deliver a pipeline of innovative therapies to people living with type 1 diabetes. Our staff and volunteers around the globe are dedicated to campaigning and our vision of a world without type 1 diabetes. For more information, please visit jdrf.org.uk or follow us on Twitter: @JDRFUK.

About type 1 diabetes

  • Type 1 diabetes is a chronic, life-threatening condition that has a life-long impact on those diagnosed with it and their families. JDRF exists to find the cure for type 1 diabetes
  • Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition which cannot be prevented, and is not linked to lifestyle factors such as diet and exercise
  • People with type 1 diabetes rely on multiple insulin injections or pump infusions every day just to stay alive, until we find the cure
  • It normally strikes children and stays with them for the rest of their lives
  • Type 1 diabetes affects about 400,000 people in the UK, 29,000 of them children

Type 1 diabetes is a chronic life-long condition which often strikes in childhood.  The exact cause of the condition is unknown but it is not linked to lifestyle or diet. Managed by multiple daily insulin injections or pump infusions, blood glucose readings have to be taken several times a day by finger prick blood tests. 

The 400,000 people in the UK who live with type 1 diabetes – including 29,000 children – rely on multiple insulin injections or pump infusions every day just to stay alive. A child diagnosed with type 1diabetes at the age of five faces up to 19,000 injections and 50,000 finger prick blood tests by the time they are 18. The condition is not linked to lifestyle factors such as diet and exercise.

For JDRF media enquiries please contact 07908 155480 or email [email protected]

For more information on the BIA Gala Dinner go to http://www.biagaladinner.org/

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