Researchers celebrated for key work fighting autoimmune diseases

Professors Maini and Feldmann receive Janssen Award and are honoured at series of ceremonies - News

By Laura Gallagher
Thursday 18 September 2008

The work of two researchers from Imperial was celebrated at a series of special events in Belgium and New York last week.

Emeritus Professor Sir Ravinder Maini and Professor Marc Feldmann have been carrying out pioneering research into autoimmune diseases since the 1980s and their work has led to treatments that have helped millions of people.

They were presented with the prestigious Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research at a formal ceremony at the Dr. Paul Janssen Research Center in Beerse, Belgium, on 11 September. The researchers were selected for the $100K award by an international committee, including Nobel Laureates and other world-renowned scientists.

Presenting their award, Sir Richard Sykes, a member of the selection committee and a former Rector of Imperial College, said that the two Professors were "a vibrant illustration of what science can achieve and what, to a great extent, science is all about."

Earlier in the week, Professors Feldmann and Maini received additional recognition during two related events in New York City: an invitation-only gala reception and a scientific symposium at The New York Academy of Sciences.

The research which Professors Maini and Feldmann carried out has led to the development of new drugs which tackle the inflammation and tissue destruction caused by rheumatoid arthritis and other diseases including ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, psoriasis, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

The treatments they developed, now used by millions of people across the world, have proved effective in most patients, even those resistant to all previous treatments. They also protect the joints from further destruction.

Previous treatment options for rheumatoid arthritis left almost half of all patients with symptoms of continuing disease, deterioration of physical function and progressive joint damage.

(l-r) Professor Maini, Sol Snyder (Chair of Dr Paul Janssen Award Independent Selection Committee), and Professor Feldmann at the gala reception

Sir Richard added: "A therapy that is effective even in patients resistant to all previous treatments and that not only relieves symptoms but can also halt tissue damage has been the holy grail of autoimmune disease research. And that is exactly what Marc and Ravinder have achieved."

The breakthrough came for Professors Maini and Feldmann when they discovered how autoimmune diseases such as arthritis cause the immune system to fight itself. Their work showed that the key lay in molecules responsible for cell communication, known as cytokines.

Cytokines are normally released by immune cells to alert the immune system to initiate a protective counter-response against infections. Professors Maini and Feldmann discovered that in autoimmune diseases, cytokines are over-produced, with highly increased cytokine levels around otherwise healthy cells. This leads to the signs and symptoms of disease, and in rheumatoid arthritis it explains the body's aggressive reaction in areas of arthritic inflammation around patients' joints.

In 1991, the two Professors and their colleagues found that all the different cytokines causing inflammation could be stopped by blocking one kind, Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) alpha. In 1992, the first series of successful trials were run with rheumatoid arthritis patients at Charing Cross Hospital, now part of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. The improvements in patients' health were so dramatic that the nurses could identify merely by observation, without access to blood tests, which patients had been given a placebo and which had received TNF alpha blockers.

Professor Maini, former Head of the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology at Imperial College London, said: "Advances in molecular medicine, biotechnology and contributions from many colleagues enabled our discovery to be made. It is a joy to see how the lives of patients have been changed by this treatment."

The Professors' work laid the foundation for the development of three anti-TNF drugs, infliximab, etanercept and adalimumab. Furthermore, a new branch of medicine known as anti-cytokine therapy is now emerging, which builds on their work. This research is looking at other cytokine messengers, in addition to TNF, to see how targeting these messengers might treat more conditions.

Professor Feldmann, Head of the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology at Imperial College London, added: "It is very pleasing that our research defining TNF as a good therapeutic target for rheumatoid arthritis has subsequently led to TNF blockade in Crohn's disease, psoriasis, ankylosing spondylitis and ulcerative colitis. Blocking other cytokines such as IL-6 has been successful, too. This has led to a newly emerging branch of medicine, anti-cytokine therapy. We are very excited that we now have the potential to treat even more diseases and help more patients."

Sir Roy Anderson, Rector of Imperial College, said: "Millions of people across the world now have a vastly improved quality of life thanks to the dedication of Marc and Ravinder. For those of us who have followed their research for many years and have long been proud of them, it is wonderful to see their extraordinary achievements recognised with this prestigious award, and I offer them my warmest congratulations."

Established by Johnson & Johnson, The Dr. Paul Janssen Award salutes the most passionate and creative scientists in basic or clinical research whose scientific achievements have made, or have strong potential to make, a measurable impact on human health.

In addition to being named the 2008 winners of The Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research, Professors Feldmann and Maini have been widely honored for their work. They have received various prizes including the Albert Lasker Clinical Medical Research Award in 2003 and the Crafoord Prize of the Royal Swedish Academy of Science in 2000.

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