1st prize Venture for the startup Diatheris

Giorgio Ramadori (left) and Roberto Coppari (right), founders of the Diatheris start-up. Photo: Martine Rutsche - Venture

The Diatheris start-up has won first prize in the Venture competition in the Health and Nutrition category. Venture is the biggest innovation competition for start-ups and entrepreneurs in Switzerland. The prize, awarded by a jury of experts and entrepreneurs, comes with a grant of CHF 50,000, which will enable Diatheris to continue its development.

Founded by Roberto Coppari, a professor in our Department of Cell Physiology and Metabolism in the Faculty of Medicine and coordinator of the Faculty Diabetes Centre, and Giorgio Ramadori, a scientific collaborator in Professor Coppari's laboratory, Diatheris is seeking to develop a new therapeutic agent that would enable type 1 diabetics to live without insulin.  Type 1 diabetes is a disease in which the immune system destroys the beta cells of the pancreas, which are responsible for producing insulin. Currently, the only treatment available consists of daily injections of artificial insulin, a treatment that is far from optimal and has numerous side effects. Professor Roberto Coppari's team has discovered that a hormone, S100A9, is capable of improving glycaemic control while avoiding the most harmful side-effects of insulin.

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