Grant: Operating Grant

Recently some new drugs have become available to treat Rheumatoid Arthritis and associated diseases. They are protein molecules called TNF blockers. These drugs are very successful but are very expensive ($20,000-40,000/yr) and need to be injected frequently and can cause side effects since the amount in the body is high after injection and then decreases over time. We have found a safe way to deliver the DNA that makes the protein and to have the body make the protein from the DNA, rather than deliver the protein itself. This approach is called gene therapy. Our technology has been tested in an animal model for Diabetes where it has succeeded. We propose to test this technology for treating Rheumatoid Arthritis in animal models. If successful this new technology will be much less expensive, require less frequent injection and have fewer side effects, therefore representing a major advance in arthritis treatments.