Lynchpin in $220M fight against breathlessness

Our NIHR Southampton Clinical Research Facility (NIHR CRF) played a central role in stimulating a $220M drug development programme aimed at minimising the impact of the common cold and other viruses on asthma and COPD sufferers.
 

Key facts

• A $220M deal will see AstraZeneca develop inhaled interferon beta (IFNβ) under license from University of Southampton spin-out company Synairgen

• The Facility provided the specialist respiratory experimental medicine and quality assured tissue handling facilities needed to discover the key immunological mechanism

• Key in the delivery of all the Phase I and II trials that underpin this deal and the evidence for further development
   

Jump to our infographic summary here.
 

Limiting the impact of viral exacerbations
 

The novel therapy uses inhaled (IFNβ) treatment as a means of reducing the severity and duration of life-threatening exacerbations in asthma and COPD. Initially developed by Synairgen, a University of Southampton spin-out company drawing on work conducted in the university’s Brooke Laboratories, it is now licensed to AstraZeneca in a $220M deal. 
 

Fighting breathlessness
 

5.4 million people are receiving treatment for asthma in the UK, with over 1,000 deaths due to severe asthma exacerbations each year. Respiratory infections caused by viruses trigger 80% of these dangerous exacerbations, and better management of these infections is a key target for reducing deaths and improving quality of life.
 

“Our approach aims to reduce the likelihood of exacerbations, and is based on our observations in the early 2000s linking immunodeficiency in asthmatics with markedly lower levels of interferon beta in their lung epithelia,” explains Principal Investigator Professor Ratko Djukanovic.
 

From discovery...
 

Critical to the discovery of low interferon levels in asthmatics was the Southampton facility's specialist bronchoscopy suites and quality assured sample handling laboratories.
 

“Without these superb facilities we could not have developed the lung model platform needed to characterise, and modulate the immunological status of lung epithelium” comments Professor Djukanovic.
 

To delivery...
 

The Phase I and Phase II studies conducted over the course of a decade which established inhaled interferon's potential were conducted in the facility.
 

“The facility was invaluable in our experimental and early phase work that took us to the deal with AstraZeneca”, explains Synairgen CEO Richard Marsden.
 

 “This specialist respiratory research capability and research nursing team all in one place, integrated with both the regional asthma service and the NIHR respiratory BRU means that high quality and challenging clinical trials can be completed in a timely manner ” he adds.