Thermalin Diabetes licenses insulin analogs from CWRU

Thermalin Diabetes Inc. has been granted by Case Western Reserve University an exclusive license for a portfolio of insulin analogs, which are proteins engineered to act like insulin in the body.

Previously, the Cleveland-based company had held an option on the portfolio, according to a statement from Case.

Thermalin is working to commercialize the discoveries of Dr. Michael Weiss, chairman of the Biochemistry Department at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Weiss is founder and chief scientific officer for Thermalin.

So far, the company has raised more than $3 million to support its efforts to develop and commercialize the analogs. About $2.2 million of that comes from private investors, including Cleveland economic development group JumpStart Inc. The company also has received $1.1 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health.

The company is in the midst of large-animal tests that it hopes to wrap up next year. It also hopes to begin testing its analogs on humans in 2012, CEO Rick Berenson said last month.

Several drug makers, including Eli Lilly & Co., and Sanofi-Aventis, have received regulatory approval to sell insulin analogs in the United States.