Project description
Neurotoxin for osteoarthritis treatment
Osteoarthritis is a degenerative condition associated with breakdown of collagen in the cartilage of the joints that cushion the bones. It is characterised by debilitating pain that is conventionally managed by non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs and opioids. However, these interventions are not always effective or lead to side effects, necessitating alternative therapies. The ERC-funded Arth-Alleve project aims to address this unmet medical need through the development of a non-pharmacological therapy. The strategy is based on using neurotoxin molecules to block the nerves associated with osteoarthritis pain. These will be anchored to hydrogel particles to prevent them from escaping into the circulation, providing only localised effect and contributing to a significant improvement in the quality of life for patients.
Objective
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common cause of chronic pain in older persons in Europe and is the leading cause of disability. The disease is a condition affecting the joint cartilage and subchondral bone and is frequently accompanied by pain, stiffness, and long-term disability. Chronic pain is the most prominent symptom in most people with OA, and is the most important determinant of disability in patients with osteoarthritis. Treatment guidelines for OA pain management uniformly recommends a range of pharmacological therapies, including paracetamol, NSAIDs and opioids, together with non-pharmacological therapies. However, such therapies are restricted by considerable side effects and limited efficacy, as well as country-specific restrictions on prescriptions (e.g. on opioid use). Given the risks and side effects associated with current therapies, the long-term outlook for OA patients is bleak. Currently there exists no non-pharm effective therapy for OA pain management. OA patients are left with two options: Manage the debilitating chronic pain using over-the-counter and/or prescription medication, with all of the risk and side effects associated with those therapies; or try to independently cope with the pain and all of the personal, economic and societal challenges that chronic pain presented. Within the ambitious Arth-alleve project, we propose to develop a non-pharma side-effect-free long-term therapy for OA patients, providing new hope to the growing cohort of European citizens affected by this debilitating disease. The Arth-Alleve project will explore the concept of attaching neurotoxin molecules to hydrogel particles, to enable the mechanism of nerve blocking to occur, with the hydrogel acting as a long-term anchor preventing migration of the molecule from the target site. This project will truly transform the treatment of chronic OA pain, and the Quality of Life of the large cohort of European patients suffering from the condition.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Funding Scheme
ERC - Support for frontier research (ERC)Host institution
H91 Galway
Ireland