Proteomika improves monitoring of chronic inflammatory illnesses such as arthritis or Crohn's disease

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Proteomika improves monitoring of chronic inflammatory illnesses such as

arthritis or Crohn's disease

www.basqueresearch.com/berria_irakurri.asp?Berri_Kod=2709 & hizk=I

2010/5/10

Proteomika, part of the Progenika Group and specialising in developing tools

for personalised medicine, has drawn up a new test that enables closer

monitoring of patients with chronic inflammatory illnesses. With this new

development, patients can receive personalised therapies which are more

suited to their illness and, thereby, enhance their quality of life.

The new kit, known as Promonitor, enables monitoring and optimising

treatment with biological pharmaceutical medicines of chronic inflammatory

illnesses such as rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease,

ankylosing spondylitis and spondyloarthropathies. Thanks to this new test,

specialists in rheumatology and gastroenterology can control the response

and progress of the patient receiving this kind of therapy with greater

precision.

The test determines the effectiveness of the treatment, as it is possible to

know if the patient has developed antibodies against the pharmaceutical drug

employed and quantify their quantity in the blood. With these two values,

the specialist will be able to know if the treatment has turned out to be

effective or if it is necessary to modify it.

Promonitor has advantages for the health system as it enables optimising the

cost of biological treatment through more rational and objective use and,

thereby, affords financial savings for the health centres.

The test, which has an EC label, provides specialists with a new, objective

and specific laboratory parameter for detecting response failures and for

preventing possible adverse reactions. Evaluating the progress and

effectiveness of the treatment is currently based on subjective markers.

More than 250,000 persons in Spain suffer from rheumatoid arthritis. It is

an illness that mostly affects women - 70% of the total number of patients,

and one that begins to manifest itself between the ages of 25 and 30. It is

currently common to commence biological treatment from the age of 50.

Crohn's disease affects approximately 100,000 persons in Spain, of which 33%

are less than 20 years old.