Bridge to the Cure

Continuing Our Quest For A Cure

In 2008, The Fraternal Order of Eagles made a promise to help find a cure for diabetes, pledging $25 million to fund research efforts at the F.O.E. Diabetes Research Center at the University of Iowa. Since then, our money has helped fund significant breakthroughs in the field of diabetes. Now, it's time to bring those research efforts to the next level through the Bridge to the Cure.

The Bridge to the Cure campaign aims to raise money to help fund exploratory trials on new drugs being developed by our research team. These trials will help determine whether or not these drugs could be of potential use to help minimize the effects of diabetes, or possibly even cure the debilitating disease.

Why is the Bridge to the Cure Important?

Our goal when starting the DRC project was to find a cure for diabetes. In order to find that cure and make it available for millions, we must have the ability to fund studies based on our research discoveries. Because diabetes drugs have varying success rates, it is difficult to receive funding for discovery trials from pharmaceutical companies. Such tests must be funded independently, with the most effective studies being licensed by pharmaceutical companies for further study.

Funding these studies ourselves, instead of relying on outside sources, allows us to accelerate the testing process and provides the opportunity to potentially return an investment on our funding, which would allow for further studies and benefit the FOE Charity Foundation.

How does the Bridge work?

All funds collected are managed by the FOE Charity Foundation under the direction of the Board of Grand Trustees. The DRC has formed an advisory committee consisting of DRC leadership and individuals with experience in the field of drug trials. The advisory board selects projects which have the best potential for success to recommend to the Board of Grand Trustees. The Board of Grand Trustees then decides whether or not to release funds from the Bridge to the Cure to help fund the trials.

How does a new drug come to market?

Initial testing must be done to ensure that the potential drug is viable. This initial testing includes animal studies and if successful, would culminate in strategic planning and outreach to pitch the drug to pharmaceutical companies. From there, the companies would fund human studies and efforts to obtain FDA approval. If all steps are successful, the companies would then take the drug to market.

What's the average amount of time it takes a new drug to reach market?

The average time is from 4-8 years, depending on the regulatory process. In the past, diabetes medications simply had to lower blood sugar. Now, medications undergo much more rigorous testing to ensure that blood sugar isn’t lowered at the sacrifice of other bodily organs or functions.

Bridge Resources