Leiden Professor of Translational Rheumatology Hans Ulrich Scherer has one foot in the clinic, where he helps patients, and the other in the lab, where he supervises researchers. He bridges these two worlds in his hunt for autoimmune rheumatic diseases.
'I want to translate the lab findings to clinical practice', says Scherer. 'And vice versa: to conduct experimental research that meets patient needs. We need to understand diseases and the underlying processes if we want to make advancements for patients.' His autoimmunity research is a good example of that. He focuses on autoreactive B cells. These are immune cells with a malfunction that causes them to attack the body. These 'derailed' B cells play a key role in the onset and course of autoimmune rheumatic diseases.
Scherer's team has developed a method to detect these rare B cells in patient blood. 'These cells have certain characteristics and the question is how we can positively influence them.' Scherer sees potential in CAR-T cell therapy, a treatment that encourages the immune system to recognise and destroy dysregulated B cells.
Simple method
But CAR-T therapy is expensive and difficult to use. Scherer is therefore also working with therapeutic antibodies that should have the same effect as CAR-T cells but be easier and more cost-effective to use. This is with the Leiden Centre for Human Drug Research (CHDR). 'We are working with the CHDR on early phase (phase 1) clinical studies in patients, so first-in-human studies. Not in healthy test participants but directly in patients', he says. The latter is possible because of the LUMC's clinical expertise and patients on the one hand, and the CHDR's knowledge and experience of drug development on the other.
More efficient drug development
The CHDR recently opened a department at the LUMC: the clinical research unit. Patients can be admitted a few days before being administered new drugs and can stay until a few days after. 'This construction makes for more efficient drug development and speeds up the time it takes for us to bring new drugs to the patient', says Scherer.
Autoimmune rheumatic disease research is complex for various reasons, says Scherer, but it is plain to see that collaboration between research groups, institutions and commercial partners can accelerate the development of therapies and make them more affordable. 'Only by removing barriers and building bridges between not just lab and clinic but also national and international partners will we be able to make real breakthroughs for patients.'
New drugs thanks to interdisciplinary collaboration
Researchers from Leiden conduct unique and internationally excellent interdisciplinary research in the field of drug discovery and development. The research focuses on new clues, molecules and concepts that could lead to the development of innovative drugs and diagnostic tests. Researchers with an outstanding international reputation are active in specific areas within these three themes. The interdisciplinary approach together with the availability of biobanks, patient databases and drug production facilities are essential to the discovery of new disease mechanisms and drug targets and the development of high-quality drugs. Investment in this area will strengthen the links at the Leiden Bio Science Park.
