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Research directed by Professor John Robertson at The University of Nottingham led to the launch, in 2009, of the world's first autoantibody blood test for the detection of early-stage lung cancer. The EarlyCDT-Lung test has been commercialised through the spin-out company Oncimmune. [text removed for publication]. EarlyCDT-Lung is now used clinically in North and South America, the UK and the Middle East, generating revenue and saving lives.
UCL has conducted a series of national lung cancer trials, which have led to wide-scale changes in clinical practice. Two trials compared different platinum based therapies, which led to centres switching from using chemotherapy with cisplatin to carboplatin-based chemotherapy instead. Carboplatin can be given as an outpatient, and has fewer side effects, and has been (and still is) recommended as an alternative to cisplatin in the UK and US.
Invasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) is a frequently fatal disease of haematological malignancy patients, caused by fungi from the genus Aspergillus. Dr Christopher Thornton has developed and commercialised a novel point-of-care test for the diagnosis of IPA with an Aspergillus-specific monoclonal antibody (mAb) JF5 generated using hybridoma technology. Using this mAb, he has developed a lateral-flow device (LFD) for the rapid detection of Aspergillus antigen in human serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluids (BALf) that signifies active infection. Commercial exploitation of the patented technology has been met through the establishment of a University of Exeter spin-out company, Isca Diagnostics Limited.
Research at Queen's University Belfast has led to the successful development and commercialization of a DNA chip technology platform that facilitates the rapid discovery and validation of new diagnostic tests in cancer. A spin out company has been established called Almac Diagnostics that currently employs 85 staff, thereby significantly contributing to the knowledge based economy in Northern Ireland. Almac has used this technology to develop and validate a number of genomic tests that have been successfully licensed to established US based diagnostic companies, thereby securing long term revenue streams. Almac is now recognised internationally as a worldwide industry leader in this area.
We have made substantial contributions to the diagnosis of lung disease by providing tools to assess and interpret lung function accurately across the entire lifespan. These contributions include: effects of lung disease being more clearly distinguished from those of normal growth, development and aging; increased understanding of the early determinants of adult respiratory disease and improved diagnosis of chronic obstructive lung disease. Commercially available equipment for assessing lung function in infants and preschool children has been developed based on our work and our recently developed multi-ethnic, all-age lung growth charts have been endorsed internationally and are now in widespread use.
Lung cancer is the commonest cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. The University of Manchester (UoM) Lung Cancer Group has generated insights that underpin new standards of care in the treatment of advanced, metastatic small cell (SCLC) and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), contributed to the results required for licensing of new drugs and secured approval for new treatment regimens now in routine clinical use internationally. Key contributions include an increase in survival of 23% in advanced NSCLC with the use of chemotherapy and doubling one-year survival from 13% to 27% in patients with incurable, extensive stage SCLC by the use of prophylactic cranial irradiation. The Group's research has impacted on outcomes for thousands of patients worldwide.
Measurement of hormones is essential to the understanding and diagnosis of endocrine diseases. White and her research group have developed unique antibodies that are widely used in diagnostic assays for adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) and related peptides, including the first and only kit for measuring pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC), the precursor of ACTH. These assays are used worldwide for diagnosis, decisions on treatment, monitoring for recurrence of tumours and prognosis in a number of patient groups with life-threatening endocrine disorders. Global sales of the ACTH Elecsys tests by Roche exceeded 6 million kits since 2008. AstraZeneca has used the POMC and ACTH assays in its drug discovery programmes in the cardiovascular and metabolic diseases therapy area. The antibodies therefore have had health impact in relieving suffering and in improving patient care, as well as commercial impact in worldwide sales of assays and influencing drug development strategies.
New therapies supported by clear evidence from clinical trials have resulted in outstanding improvements in survival and quality of life for people living with cystic fibrosis (CF). Elborn's clinical trials group has delivered a programme of crucial clinical trials which has impacted on clinical practice in CF. From 2009-2012 Elborn co-led a pivotal multicentre trial using Ivacaftor (Kalydeco TM), a transformative new drug which represents a paradigm shift as the first approved therapy that corrects the basic defect in CF. This therapy is an exemplar of personalised medicine and is prescribed for patients with the specific gene mutation in which this drug works.
The University of Nottingham spin out company Scancell Holdings plc is developing novel immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer. By licensing products (£6million) and listing and raising money (£4million) on the stock exchange, it has provided an excellent return for investors. In 2012, in response to good clinical trial results, Scancell's shares showed the greatest percentage increase (10fold) on London's AIM stock exchange, reaching a market capitalisation of £98million. This has encouraged further investment (£6.5million) which is in line with the Government's plan to promote the Biotechnology Industry. As the products progress to market it will save further lives and continue to increase in value providing further profit for investors.
University of Glasgow research has led to the adoption of first-line chemotherapy for ovarian cancer, which has improved patient survival by 11% and has been used to treat 66% of women with ovarian cancer since January 2011 in the West of Scotland Cancer Care Network alone. These therapies are recommended by guidelines for ovarian cancer treatment in the USA, Europe and the UK. The USA guidelines are disseminated to 4.3 million people worldwide and the European guidelines reach 15,000 health professionals. The UK guidelines are used to identify those drugs that are funded by the NHS and used in NHS hospitals.