Research facility will give people in the west access to cutting edge treatments

PATIENTS IN the west of Ireland who suffer from the chronic inflammatory condition, Crohn’s disease, will have the opportunity to take part in a cutting-edge clinical trial involving stem cell therapy later this year.

The Crohn’s disease study is only one of a number of exciting clinical trials due to start at the HRB Clinical Research Facility (CRF) in Galway, according to interim director of the facility, Prof Larry Egan.

“Galway is the only facility in the country and one of only a small number in Europe with the capacity to make clinical grade stem cells to treat patients through REMEDI [the Regenerative Medicine Institute at NUI Galway]. We plan to treat patients with Crohn’s disease with these cells in the hope that this will lead to revolutionary new forms of treatment for specific patients with this disease,” he explains.

Although the CRF in Galway has been operating since March of 2008 in rented accommodation, Minister for Health Mary Harney announced earlier this year that €7.5 million in capital funding was being provided for the construction of a purpose-built facility on the grounds of University Hospital Galway. Construction is due to begin soon and the facility is expected to be up and running within a year and a half.

The CRF is a joint venture between Galway University Hospitals and NUI Galway and is supported by funding from the Health Research Board. Its primary purpose is to improve human health through the generation of new medical knowledge from patient-based research.

Prof Egan says: “The benefits of this facility include the ability to provide access to cutting-edge clinical trials and access to novel therapies for patients in the west of Ireland that they otherwise would not get.

“Clinical care provided in a research-intensive environment has been proven internationally to result in the best patient outcomes.

“With the development of the CRF in Galway, our ability to provide this level of service to our patients will be significantly enhanced. As a result, patient care will improve, and the ability of our hospital to attract and retain the very best medical and allied health staff will be improved.”

The CRF will be built along with translational research laboratories funded by NUI Galway in a 5,000sq m building on the campus of University Hospital Galway.

This joint clinical and translational research facility will comprise facilities for patient-based research and for the processing and analysis of bio-specimens such as blood samples from those patients.

The original concept of the CRF came from a group of academic physicians in Galway a number of years ago who wanted to increase the volume of clinical research being carried out at the hospital and university.

With joint funding from the HRB and the Wellcome Trust in the UK, the facility was started in March 2008 and activity has gradually been ramped up since. There are currently 10 staff working in the CRF and this is expected to double over the next few years.

“One example of the sort of research the CRF is involved in is clinical trials. For example, we will be testing new drugs, cell-based therapies and biomedical devices. Many of these studies will give positive results which will lead to better therapies for patients not only in Galway, but all around the world,” said Prof Egan.

Researchers at the facility are also trying to gain a better understanding of the causes of disease – through the analysis of bio-specimen samples and radiological images – at the genetic and molecular level. The aim again is to discover new methods of earlier diagnosis for different diseases as well as potential new treatments.

As well as the Crohn’s disease stem cell trial, Prof Egan said the CRF was on the cusp of starting several other multi-centre international clinical trials in a number of disease areas, including cancer.

He points out that the CRF will be working alongside the existing oncology clinical trials unit funded by the HRB in Galway on cancer trials.

Prof Timothy O’Brien, consultant endocrinologist at GUH, professor of medicine at NUI Galway and director of REMEDI, said the Galway CRF would form part of an Irish network of clinical research facilities which would allow Irish patients access to state-of-the-art clinical research.

“The Galway facility will also serve as the translational arm of REMEDI and will allow findings from basic research in stem cells, gene therapy, biomaterials and immunology to be brought to the clinic.

The facility will have space specially designed for clinical research in regenerative medicine.

“It will also have important advantages for the progression of research and development in the medical device industry which is so important to the economy of the west of Ireland,” he said.