Two world-renowned biomedical scientists have joined the Shanghai-based National Center for Drug Screening to bolster its new drug research and development endeavors, sources with the center said Friday.

Prof. Tamas Bartfai, former senior vice president of Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche Holding AG, and Dr. Simon Campbell, former vice president for the research wing of the U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, accepted the center's invitation to join its scientific advisory panel on Thursday.

The panel, established in 2005, had 10 advisors, including one Chinese and nine international specialists in biomedicine, venture capital and pharmaceutical management, said Wang Mingwei, head of the drug screening center and the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica.

Wang and his colleagues said early this month they had found a key compound that might be developed as an oral drug for Type II diabetics and other metabolic disorders.

Their thesis on the discovery -- a compound called Boc5 that can reduce the food intake of mice -- was published in the Jan. 16issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science -- an authoritative U.S. science journal.

It said the compound prevented weight increases and normalized blood-sugar levels in diabetic animals.

A number of international scientists had expressed their interest in joining the "inspiring" research project, Wang told Xinhua.

"These international scientists will bolster our new drug research, expand international cooperation and sharpen the competitive edge of the Chinese industry," said Ding Jian, head of the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica.

(Xinhua News Agency February 2, 2007)