NIH Establishes Rheumatoid Arthritis And Lupus Network, Grants $6 Million
By Cyndi Root
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded $6 million to 11 research groups to study rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and lupus. The grants establish the Rheumatoid Arthritis and Lupus (AMP RA/Lupus) Network, part of the Accelerating Medicines Partnership (AMP) launched in February 2014. The AMP grants, announced in a press release, are funded by the NIH along with industry partners, including AbbVie, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Merck, Pfizer, Sanofi, and Takeda. The grantees were selected through a competitive process and funding was awarded on Sept. 24, 2014.
Maria C. Freire, Ph.D., president and executive director of the Foundation for the NIH, which manages the AMP, said, “A critical component of the AMP initiative is that NIH and industry partners have agreed to make the AMP data and analyses broadly available to the biomedical research community. This pre-competitive model of sharing results, risks, and resources can dramatically accelerate drug development and lead to the modification of existing therapies for these challenging diseases.”
AMP RA/Lupus Network
The AMP RA/Lupus Network is a partnership between industry, non-profits, and the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS). Grantees will identify pathways in RA/ Lupus disease progression as opposed to the traditional method of validating biological targets for drugs. The Network will work for five years on analyzing tissue samples, single cells, biological pathways, and genomes, all to achieve a systems level understanding of the disease.
Another goal of the AMP program is to make data available to the biomedical research community in order to accelerate drug development. Industry partners have relayed their comments on the program, which are available on the NIH’s website. Gary Nabel, Sanofi’s Chief Scientific Officer, said, "This public-private partnership aims to deepen our understanding of these debilitating autoimmune disorders.”
AMP Program
AMP is funding two other conditions, Alzheimer’s disease and Type 2 diabetes. Industry is giving $62 million out of a budget of $130 million for Alzheimer’s; $28 million out of $54 million for diabetes; and $21 million out of $42 million for RA/Lupus. Steering committees, which include industry partners, are meeting regularly, in order to define agendas and review progress.