The Northern Ireland Minister for Health, Edwin Poots, MLA, today announced funding of almost 1 million pounds, to be utilised by Randox and the University of Ulster Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, to develop a test to rapidly determine which patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis will respond to particular drugs. If successful, this will be a marked advance for arthritis patients, enabling those patients to receive specifically tailored treatment.

Fifty percent of this funding has been awarded, after rigorous scrutiny, through the Technology Strategy Board (TSB; www.innovateuk.org) Stratified Medicine Competition and the Medical Research Council (MRC; www.mrc.ac.uk) and will be matched by funding from Northern Ireland company Randox. This initiative will place Randox and the University of Ulster at the forefront of developments into personalised medicine.

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease affecting 1% of the global population. Rheumatoid arthritis costs the NHS an estimated 560 million pounds annually. The National Audit Office estimates that approximately 580,000 adults in England currently have the disease with a further 26,000 new cases diagnosed each year. In Northern Ireland, it is estimated that over 20,000 people are affected.

If untreated, RA leads to joint destruction, progressive disability and often, premature mortality. As a measure of the debilitating effect of RA on the individual and on society, one third of RA patients stop working within 2 years of diagnosis.

A suite of drugs are used, often in combination, to reduce the impact of RA but differences in individual response and side effects make the treatment choice very difficult. At present, finding the right drug is based on a trial and error approach, with some patients unresponsive or intolerant of the medication used. For the most seriously affected patients specialist biologic drugs are used.

However, 30-40% of patients treated with these specialist and expensive drugs derive no benefit and there is an unmet need to develop tests to predict which patients will benefit. This will ensure that non-responders do not have to undergo unnecessary therapy with the risk of possible side effects. It would also save significant healthcare funds and allow those funds to be targeted on patients who will benefit from the treatment.

The University of Ulster (UU) recently identified novel genetic biomarkers that have the potential to effectively stratify responders and non-responders to anti-TNF therapy. It is widely accepted that multiple biological markers provide much greater information than individual tests.

Biochip Array Technology, developed at Randox, provides a fast, sensitive and accurate platform for multiplexing these biomarker discoveries, leading to the creation of a comprehensive panel of indicative markers for determination of drug response.

The consortium has full support of renowned clinical rheumatologists who will validate this assay.

Support from TSB will accelerate development of this groundbreaking assay and create several full-time scientific posts at Randox and a post-doctorate associate position at UU, while enhancing the reputation of both parties as pioneers in the drive towards personalised healthcare.

Dr Martin Crockard Project Manager at Randox said: This is a continuation of Randoxs work at the cutting edge of innovative diagnostics. A diagnostic test to determine a Rhuematoid arthritis patients responsiveness to drug treatment will be a world first in the field of personalised medicine. The TSB ran a UK wide competition to obtain funding for projects and the fact that this project was funded demonstrates that scientists at Randox and the University of Ulster are at the forefront of innovative ideas and represent world class science.

Professor Tony Bjourson Director of Biomedical Sciences Research Institute said:This is a personalised medicine project that really is a fantastic example of the benefits for all concerned. This interaction between academics, clinicians, industry and of course patients working in partnership demonstrates how basic science discoveries made at the laboratory bench can be translated into clinical products that have real tangible impact for patients, the economy and society in general.

Dr Philip Gardiner: This is an exciting time for patients with Rheumatoid arthritis. The biologic drugs available to us make it possible to effectively treat people whose lives have been devastated by severe inflammatory arthritis and restore a good quality of life. However, these drugs are expensive and the risk of side effects makes it a difficult choice for many patients. Some patients are unresponsive to treatment and we urgently need to find a way of choosing the right treatment for the right patient. This research study is designed to show if the biomarker test developed by Randox will enable doctors to get the treatment right first time.

For more details on this exciting project, please contact:
Randox: Dr. Martin Crockard 028 94422413 Martin.Crockard@Randox.com
University of Ulster: Professor Tony Bjourson AJ.Bjourson@ulster.ac.uk