Advances in gene-cell therapy strategies for chronic inflammatory diseases

Patenten un nou mètode de teràpia gènica-cel·lular per tractar malalties inflamatòries cròniques.

Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), the Health Sciences Research Institute of the "Germans Trias i Pujol" Foundation (IGTP), the Catalan Institute for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA) and the pharmaceutical company Grífols met today at the Víctor Grífols i Lucas Foundation to sign a co-ownership agreement for the patent of a new gene-cell therapy method applicable to the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases. With the use of a nanotransporter, this new therapy can genetically modify a specific type pf blood cell involved in the inflammatory process and can selectively conduct the medication to the affected areas.

30/04/2009

Catalonia's multinational pharmaceutical company Grífols is a worldwide leader in plasma-derived products and one of the companies listed on the Spanish stock market IBEX 35. It has financed research studies carried out by researchers Miguel Chillón (ICREA, UAB), Ester Fernández (UAB), and Miquel Àngel Gassull and Adolfo Río (IGTP), under a collaboration agreement signed in January 2007. The patent co-ownership agreement signed today is the result of this collaboration.

In recent years new approaches in medicine have appeared which focus on making the very cells of a patient producers of therapeutic molecules in a specific, localised and regulated manner. The research carried out has led to the patenting of a new method which genetically modifies a specific type of blood cell with the help of a nanotransporter. This nanotransporter is capable of introducing therapeutic genes into the patient's blood cells and notably modifying their function. Given that these cells are naturally programmed to travel to the inflamed areas, this new system will be able to conduct the medication in a selective manner to the areas affected by the inflammatory process, thus diminishing the risks of side effects in healthy parts of the organism. The nanotransporter therefore makes it possible for scientists to extract cells from the patient and genetically modify them, converting them into medication cells which can then be stored and administered either to fight an outbreak or as a treatment aimed at preventing relapses. The new discovery not only represents an advance in gene-cell therapy but also a step towards the medicine of the future and personalised therapies.

The positive evolution of socio-economic aspects in the Western world also has led to changes in the frequency of diseases, with a decrease in the number of infectious diseases in the past 20 years, but an increase in chronic inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease, all of them autoimmune diseases which are increasingly affecting younger populations. Although these diseases can be treated, the drugs administered are used as a palliative remedy but do not serve as a cure. Chronic disorders require lifelong treatments and this frequently leads to severe side effects caused directly by the drugs or by the effects they have on other healthy organs of the body. This gives way to serious deterioration in the quality of life of patients, including reduced autonomy and difficulties in their social and professional insertion.

Image from left to right: Eva Bastida, Scientific Director of Grífols; Jordi Marquet, Vice-Rector for Strategic Projects and Director of the UAB Research Park; and Miquel Àngel Gassull, Scientific Director of IGTP, during the signing of the co-ownership agreement.