Early stage funding from HSC R&D Division Translational Research Group has helped scientists at Queen’s University Belfast who are developing a potential revolutionary new treatment for Sepsis and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS).
The novel anti-inflammatory drug, SAN101, is being developed by a team of scientists and clinicians at the School of Pharmacy and the Centre for Infection and Immunity at Queen’s, alongside colleagues at Trinity College Dublin (TCD). It is the result of an initial discovery made over 6 years ago at Queen’s.
The research was funded by a major grant from the Medical Research Council awarded in 2012, following initial support from the Public Health Agency (PHA) HSC R&D Division.
Sepsis is one of the most frequent cause of death in hospitalised patients, with an estimated 19 million cases worldwide every year and around 8 million deaths. The condition claims 37,000 lives in the UK every year and costs the NHS around £2.5 billion annually. There may be up to 45,000 cases of ARDS each year in the UK and Ireland and up to 22,000 deaths. The team at Queen’s have developed a nanoparticle that binds to immune cells in the body and inhibits the excessive cycle of inflammation which drives the development of sepsis and ARDS. This new approach has the potential to reduce the impact of sepsis and ARDS in acutely ill patients.