Largest grant ever awarded for APS research in the UK
The Centre for Rheumatology at University College London has been awarded a £3.5 million grant from the Medical Research Council to continue developing a new treatment for antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) the largest grant ever awarded in the UK for research into APS. The grant will support the next three years' work on the project designed to develop the new agent to the point where trials in humans could start. The current treatment for patients with APS involves lifelong anticoagulant treatment, with drugs such as warfarin, but these are associated with a significant risk of bleeding. The new treatment being developed by UCL looks at suppressing the antibodies so that anticoagulation could be reduced for patients. Professor Anisur Rahman, a Trustee and Medical Advisor to APS Support UK, is leading the team at UCL who are working in partnership with Abzena, a biotechnology company that provides specialist chemical technology needed to develop this potential treatm...