Anika Therapeutics, Inc., a Bedford, Massachusetts company with products based on hyaluronic acid technology, has entered into an agreement with the Institute for Applied Life Sciences (IALS) at the University of Massachusetts (UMASS), Amherst, to collaborate on developing a therapy for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). According to their news release, if the research partnership is successful in developing a treatment for RA, it plans to move toward clinical development in 2017.
Anika and University of Massachusetts Tackle RA
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Company officials describe rheumatoid arthritis as “a chronic inflammatory disorder which manifests itself in multiple joints of the body.” … primarily affects the lining of the joints (synovial membrane)…. The inflamed synovium leads to erosion of cartilage and bone, which can lead to joint deformity….The Center for Disease Control estimates that 67 million individuals will be diagnosed with RA by the year 2030.”
“We are very excited to partner with a world-renowned research institution and the many outstanding scientists at UMass Amherst to develop a localized delivery treatment for rheumatoid arthritis that addresses a large unmet need, ” said Charles H. Sherwood, M.D., president and chief executive officer, Anika Therapeutics. “With this partnership, we plan to further advance Anika’s mission to deliver innovative therapies that address the full continuum of patient care, with a focus in the area of orthopedics.”
“We are extremely enthusiastic to have our research teams partnering with Anika as we aim to address treatments for RA, ” said Peter H. Reinhart, M.D. director of the Institute for Applied Life Sciences at UMass Amherst. “This is exactly the type of win-win collaboration IALS is seeking to develop in its quest to rapidly commercialize UMass life science discoveries into products that improve human health.”
“This partnership combines Professor Sankaran Thayumanavan’s expertise in nanotechnology with Professor Lisa Minter’s mechanistic understanding of aberrant immune responses and with Anika’s knowledge of hyaluronic acid chemistry and its clinical application to treat joint pain, ” said Professor Mike Malone, Vice Chancellor for Research and Engagement at UMass Amherst.
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This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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