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| Arthritis is crippling the economy |
The effects of rheumatoid arthritis | Increasing rates of arthritis among Australians could cripple the nation's economy, with the financial costs to the nation estimated to be over $20 billion a year.
This month (April 1-7) National Arthritis Week focused on the financial as well as the personal costs of this disease*.
Arthritis Week underscored the significance of Apollo's recent major announcement - the development of an oral treatment for arthritis. The treatment (TNF blocker ALS-00T2) can be taken in tablet form and appears to reduce inflammation in the joints, a key factor in the pain associated with arthritis. Preclinical studies have revealed it is as effective as an injection in lowering inflammation in animals with arthritis.
The results are important because they also show that Apollo's Oradel technology can be used to deliver a large drug, such as ALS-00T2. Traditionally a major drawback of large drugs is that they are usually destroyed by the stomach’s acid, when taken orally – leaving injections as the only form of administration.
According to Apollo's Director of Science, Dr Greg Russell-Jones, these latest results mean that the Apollo technology has the potential to allow patients currently undergoing daily injections for a range of diseases to instead take a daily tablet.
"This is a breakthrough. Oradel protects the protein in the stomach and makes sure the drug travels across the stomach wall to where it can work," he said. "We understand no one else has been able to deliver antibodies and large proteins such as TNF blockers in tablet form."
(* Almost 60% of people with arthritis are between the ages of 15 and 64.) |
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| www.apollolifesciences.com |
