The Novo Nordisk Foundation, a philanthropic enterprise foundation created by Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk A/S (CPH:NOVO-B) (NYSE:NVO), announced on Friday that it is funding a new pan-European initiative to accelerate drug discovery and the development of next generation therapeutics for cardiometabolic diseases (CMDs).

This initiative aims to help translate promising research into improved care for people living with CMDs.

Despite Europe's strong position in CMD research, many promising discoveries fail to progress beyond the academic laboratory. To address this challenge, the CardioMetabolic Bridge initiative will support selected academic research projects with funding, scientific and commercial mentoring from entrepreneurs and industry experts and access to state-of-the-art facilities.

The initiative is backed by up to DKK450m (EUR60.2m) from the Novo Nordisk Foundation over six years. Lab space in London will be opening in June, followed by sister sites in Italy and Germany.

"We want to improve care for the many millions of people living with conditions like obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. We have the talent and ambition, and we see extraordinary science in CMD research across Europe -- but we are still not converting enough of that into actual solutions. With CardioMetabolic Bridge we want to change that by helping to turn more academic research into drug discovery projects," explained Professor Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen, CEO of the Novo Nordisk Foundation.