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Since 1993 researchers from the University of Leeds (UoL) have devised robust and standardised experimental methodologies to study human appetite and food consumption objectively. Companies in the food and pharmaceutical sectors have used these procedures to develop functional foods and anti-obesity drugs. The validated methodologies also allowed global clinical research organisation Covance to establish its Human Appetite Laboratory to provide product evaluation for US and EU pharmaceutical companies. Food regulators have also recommended the Leeds approach for producing evidence to support appetite control claims for functional foodstuffs.
In June 2013 Arena launched Belviq® (generic name: lorcaserin) as a novel drug treatment for obesity. Lorcaserin was approved by the Federal Drugs Administration (FDA — the USA drug regulatory body) on 26 June 2012 and scheduled by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in April 2013. The scientific rationale for the development programme for lorcaserin, which is a serotonin 2C receptor agonist, as a treatment for obesity rested, in significant part, on research carried out between 1997 and 2010 at the University of Sussex.
Imperial College preclinical studies guided the desired selectivity profile for long-acting muscarinic receptor antagonists (LAMA). Binding, functional and clinical studies from Imperial laboratories were the first to demonstrate the long duration of tiotropium bromide (Spiriva®) in human tissue, and confirmed its long duration of action in patients and established it as the first-line treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Tiotropium has had a beneficial impact on the management of COPD and is incorporated into the major international treatment guidelines. It improves symptoms, reduces exacerbations and mortality, and provides a cost-effective therapy. Imperial have also produced the first pre-clinical and clinical data for the next LAMA in development (glycopyrrolate, Seebri®), which has recently been marketed. Our profiling of tiotropium has also led to the development of several novel LAMA.
Prebiotics are dietary ingredients selectively fermented by populations of gut bacteria seen as beneficial to health. Following the development of the concept of prebiotics by Professors Glenn Gibson and Marcel Roberfroid, research at the University of Reading has developed, pilot- manufactured and tested in humans, a novel prebiotic that shows greater selectivity for beneficial gut bacteria. The prebiotic has been commercialised through formation of a new Small Medium Enterprise (SME) company, Clasado. A range of functional food product formulations of the prebiotic is available over the counter at a variety of supermarket and high street outlets in the UK, as well as products containing it as a branded ingredient in North America. Research on Bimuno conducted at Reading has therefore had impact on human health through alleviation, or attenuation, of symptoms of common gut disorders and on the economy through the formation of a new SME company.
Changing global patterns of agricultural production, food availability and processing are having profound impacts on individual food consumption and population health. Thus accurate data on individual food consumption are fundamental for effective planning of agricultural investments and for the implementation of sound public health nutrition policy. Research undertaken at the University of Ulster has demonstrated that mis-reporting in dietary surveys is pervasive and consequently is obscuring diet-health associations. This research has prompted a major paradigm shift in the way public health policy makers interpret dietary intake data.
The University of Nottingham (UoN) has developed two novel food-allowed additives based upon xanthan gum. The generation of these structurally modified forms allow xanthan to be used more efficiently in food manufacturing applications and provide nutritional and health benefits. The invention of the new xanthans benefits the global food industry by facilitating new product development and formulation.
Temozolomide is a major UK anti-cancer drug development success story. Following chemical synthesis at Aston University, early clinical evaluation of temozolomide carried out at Imperial College optimised how temozolomide was scheduled and delivered to patients to ensure maximum efficacy balanced acceptable side effects. Imperial's early trials demonstrated how the drug could be used effectively to treat patients with a type of brain cancer, glioma, and was pivotal to its subsequent market licensing. ESMO and NICE guidelines recommend temozolomide for use in patients with recurrent glioma and for patients with newly diagnosed Grade IV glioma. Glioma is a relatively rare cancer yet annual sales of temozolomide have been in excess of £900 million per year since 2009. Temozolomide given during and following radiotherapy is now standard of care for glioma and has improved survival compared to previous treatments or radiotherapy alone.
Chronic diseases associated with poor nutrition are on the rise; however, people increasingly eat nutritionally-deficient ready meals owing to their convenience. Researchers from the University of Glasgow took an innovative two-fold approach to tackling this worrying trend. First, they created a nutritionally-balanced frozen pizza in collaboration with local start-up company Eat Balanced. Second, they developed content for the Eatwell Everyday website, a government-funded resource that provides user-friendly nutritionally-balanced meal plans. These initiatives have attracted extensive media coverage, with an estimated global audience of about 93 million people. The Eatwell Everyday website has received 9,058 page visits since its launch in April 2013. The Eat Balanced pizza has won 10 business or product awards, has been endorsed by a leading sports nutritionist and is currently stocked by retail giants Sainsbury's, Asda and Ocado. More than 25,000 Eat Balanced pizzas have been sold in the UK since September 2012.
Research by Professor Elliott and colleagues at Imperial College on worldwide salt and potassium intakes, their relationships to blood pressure, and co-authored systematic reviews and meta-analyses of their effects in adults and children on blood pressure and cardiovascular disease — and potential adverse effects — has played an instrumental role in developing international guidelines and public policy on sodium reduction strategies. Furthermore, published primary research has influenced US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) strategies for population-wide monitoring of sodium intakes in the USA. This work has thus had impact on policies for sodium reduction and monitoring of sodium intakes worldwide.
Research undertaken within Imperial College showed that corticosteroid resistance in inflammatory diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and severe asthma, is explained by reduced histone deacetylase-2 and that reversal of this resistance is possible with theophylline (in low clinical doses) and PI3Kδ inhibitors, which restore HDAC2 function. This led to the founding of a spin-out company RespiVert to develop potent inhaled inhibitors of PI3Kδ. The company has been very successful in finding such new molecules, which have proven to be safe in Phase I studies. RespiVert was acquired by Johnson & Johnson in 2010 and Phase II studies are now in progress in COPD and severe asthma.