Australian researchers have developed a novel immunotherapy for treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Noted in the June 4, 2015 news release as a “world-first vaccine-style therapeutic approach, ” the treatment is said to target the underlying cause of RA.
World-First in RA Treatment
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Professor Ranjeny Thomas leads the team from the University of Queensland’s Diamantina Institute. The study is a phase one clinical trial, and is published in Science Translational Medicine.
Professor Thomas said in the news release, “We have designed a vaccine-style treatment or ‘immunotherapy’ specifically for individuals carrying high-risk rheumatoid arthritis genes and specific rheumatoid arthritis antibodies, called anti-CCP. This treatment teaches the patient’s immune system to ignore a naturally occurring peptide that is incorrectly identified as ‘foreign’, resulting in the production of CCP antibodies and causing inflammation. A personalised immunotherapy was prepared for each patient by taking a sample of their blood and extracting a particular type of immune cell called dendritic cells.”
“The patient’s dendritic cells were then challenged with the ‘foreign’ peptide and an immune system modulator. “The treated dendritic cells were then injected back into the patient.”
Professor Thomas said a single injection of the patient’s own immune-modified dendritic cells was found to be safe and to help suppress the immune response in rheumatoid arthritis.
“This in turn was associated with reduced inflammation. At this stage, the technique would not be ideal for widespread treatment or prevention of rheumatoid arthritis because it’s costly and time-consuming. However, the promising results of this trial lay the foundations for the development of a more cost-effective, clinically-practical vaccine technology that could deliver similar outcomes for patients.”
Professor Thomas is working on a delivery technology with Dendright Pty Ltd in collaboration Janssen Biotech Inc., one of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson.
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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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