Lilly to Open Diabetes Research Center in Shanghai, China

Eli Lilly has announced plans to open a diabetes research center in Shanghai, China. The center, planned to open in the second half of 2011, will focus on discovering new medicines to treat diabetes.
According to a recent article in The New England Journal of Medicine, an estimated 92 million people in China – almost 10 percent of the adult population – have diabetes, a number that is expected to increase in the coming decade due in large part to longer life expectancy, dietary changes and lack of exercise.

The center will be headed by Bei Betty Zhang, Ph.D., a native of Shanghai and an internationally-recognized diabetes expert who also serves as vice president of research for Lilly Research Laboratories in China, and will initially employ 100 scientists and support staff, the majority of whom will be hired from within China.