ImmuneHealth-4-All: Breaking chronic immune diseases through a disease overarching approach

ImmuneHealth-4-All is a public–private partnership programme in which researchers, clinicians and companies collaborate to reduce the impact of chronic Immune Mediated Inflammatory Diseases (IMIDs). The programme originates from ImmuneHealthXL, a national initiative that promotes a disease-overarching approach to IMIDs, based on the insight that many of these diseases share similar underlying immune processes. This makes it possible to learn across diseases, rather than studying each condition in isolation. Within this context, nine partners active within ImmuneHealthXL have taken the initiative to establish the ImmuneHealth-4-All programme, with the explicit aim of translating research findings from earlier public–private projects into solutions that can be applied across multiple diseases and ultimately reach patients and the market.

ImmuneHealth-4-All aims to improve the lives of the more than one million people in the Netherlands who live with an IMID, such as rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis or vasculitis. In addition to these well-known conditions, there are more than 80 different (rare)diseases classified as IMIDs. Together, these conditions have a major impact on patients’ daily lives and place a heavy burden on healthcare systems and society, including high healthcare costs and reduced participation in work and social life. Current treatments often reduce symptoms but do not correct underlying problems in the immune system. New solutions for patients are therefore needed, enabling earlier diagnosis, better disease monitoring and more effective treatments, while also creating economic opportunities for the Netherlands.

ImmuneHealth-4-All aims to effectively develop and translate innovative diagnostics, monitoring tools and therapeutic strategies into practical solutions for patients, with potential applicability across disease boundaries. For this the programme brings together academic researchers, clinicians, industry partners and patient organisations in multidisciplinary public–private consortia to jointly develop, validate and implement innovations. This integrated approach supports translation from research to clinical application and market use, contributing to reduced disease chronicity, improved patient outcomes and a stronger Dutch Life Sciences & Health ecosystem.

In the first programme year, PPP projects will be selected through a call by invitation, to ensure continued translation of results from completed and ongoing ‘IHXL legacy projects’. In the second programme year, the programme will open more broadly to researchers and organisations active within the wider IMID ecosystem. Further details will be communicated via the ImmuneHealthXL website or through the programme coordination team.