Tools for development of effective short-lasting treatments for autoimmune diseases

This project aims to develop a tool kit for detection, analysis and depletion of disease-driving T cells and B cells of patients with systemic autoimmune diseases. The goal is to assist in the development of treatments that induce long-lasting disease remission. Participating companies share an interest in autoimmune diseases: Galapagos, Glaxo Smith Kline and Xenikos develop new treatments. Imaginab develops imaging tools to assist drug development. From the Radboudumc clinical, imaging, experimental and biochemical departments will deliver combined expertise.

The project meets the most important need of patients to cure from their autoimmune disease without risk of dying from complications, developing organ damage or using immunosuppressive drugs for their entire lifespan. The economic impact of the project is potentially high because the project partners are partly Dutch companies. It will increase their ability to develop effective drugs and to better identify patients for whom these treatments will be effective. Systemic autoimmune diseases are relatively rare, but because result in lifelong morbidity and risk of mortality. The potential impact for societal participation for these patients is therefore large.

This project is unique since it combines important components for successful progression: strong academic collaborations between research departments, un important unmet need, motivated patients, a combination of new imaging and biotechnological methods and tissue biopsies and a collaboration with pharma partners, selected for their unique expertise and candidate drugs.

For a number of candidate tools the project aims to deliver validation of their usefulness at the laboratory level. The companies can decide to develop them further based on the results. The usefulness of other candidate tools will be tested in studies together with patients with systemic autoimmune diseases, who will undergo imaging, biopsies of affected tissues. Assays to analyse cells will be tested as well as efficacy of potential drugs.