The Australian Government is funding a promising treatment that could effectively put rheumatoid arthritis into remission and eliminate the need for lifelong immunotherapy.
Researchers at the University of Queensland will receive $11.54 million to further groundbreaking research into resetting the immune system in patients with rheumatoid arthritis to eliminate the need for lifelong immunotherapy.
Rheumatoid arthritis is an incurable and chronic condition affecting 450,000 Australians that causes pain, disability and early death. It occurs when the body mistakes its own joint proteins as foreign and attacks them, making those joints swollen, stiff and painful.
The Reset Rheumatoid Arthritis project unites experts in immunotherapy, clinical trials, clinical practice and consumers to progress groundbreaking research and technology.
Reset Rheumatoid Arthritis will develop what's known as an antigen-specific tolerising immunotherapy. This instructs the immune system to tolerate joint proteins, with the vision that patients will be in remission after stopping treatment with conventional anti-rheumatic medicines.
Early-phase trials were promising and Reset Rheumatoid Arthritis will now develop a second-generation product for testing in future clinical trials.
Funding is provided through the Medical Research Future Fund's Frontier Health and Medical Research (Frontiers) grant opportunity.
The Frontiers grant opportunity supports 'moonshots' - ambitious, exploratory and groundbreaking research to solve some of our most challenging medical problems. Through the grant the government is supporting research with the potential to prevent and treat serious and incurable conditions.
See all successful Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) grant recipients.
Quotes attributable to Minister Butler:
"Patients like Kamal know just how difficult living with rheumatoid arthritis can be.
"The chronic pain associated with this condition can take a very heavy toll on a person's mental health and affect their ability to function and take part in normal day to day activities.
"I'm proud the Albanese Government is supporting Australian researchers to take this 'moonshot' and hopefully reset the immune system of rheumatoid arthritis sufferers.
"This would be transformative and a world first for people with rheumatoid arthritis."
Quotes attributable to lead researcher, Professor Ranjeny Thomas:
"We can now accelerate work to ready us for clinical trials of ASITI-RA, an antigen-specific immunotherapy we developed to reprogram the immune system to sustain long-term remission in rheumatoid arthritis.
"Within two years, we expect to be able to start phase one clinical trials of the immunotherapy, which aims to reduce the need for lifelong immunosuppression.
"It would transform patients' lives and reduce the economic burden associated with rheumatoid arthritis.
"This research has evolved over many years and we are so excited to receive this funding that will accelerate our progress."
Quotes attributable to rheumatoid arthritis patient, Kamal Dissanayake:
"I am over the moon about what this could mean not just for me personally, but also for the difference it could make to all people with rheumatoid arthritis.
"The disease is so common and it can really affect your lifestyle a lot. When I was first diagnosed, I couldn't type. I couldn't button my shirt. I thought it was the finish of my career.
"It's under control now with medication, but I am very happy that there could effectively be a cure and I really appreciate what the researchers are doing."
