HSC R&D Division funding under the US-Ireland Partnership is being used to evaluate the role of anerobic bacteria in pathogenesis of cystic fibrosis (CF) including investigations into the normal airways microbiome and how this is altered in CF and bronchiectasis. Belfast has led international clinical trials using drugs developed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, which deliver transformative therapies correcting the basic defect in this condition. Ivacaftor is a novel drug which targets mutations that effect how certain proteins function in some CF patients. It improves important patient outcomes in these patients and is now licenced and available in the clinic.
This support from HSC R&D Division has also enabled these researchers at Queen’s to lead on a €50 million, Europe-wide, project to develop new drug treatments (‘inhaled antibiotics’) that could improve the lives of patients with cystic fibrosis and bronchiectasis. A Consortium, which is led by researchers from the School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences, and the School of Pharmacy, at Queen’s University, with European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) partners Novartis and Basilea, is funded by the European Commission through the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) and involves researchers from 20 organisations in eight countries across Europe. The Belfast Health and Social Care Trust will be a key partner in clinical trials of the new antibiotics.