Oxford BioDynamics PLC has announced a collaboration with King's College London to develop EpiSwitch® prognostic and predictive biomarkers for the prevention of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) following the APIPPRA trial. The APIPPRA trial, led by Professor Andy Cope, demonstrated that 92.8% of patients at risk of RA remained RA-free after one year of treatment with Abatacept. However, 25% of treated patients who initially showed a response subsequently developed RA, highlighting the need for improved stratification tools to identify individuals at high risk of RA with predicted efficacious response to Abatacept.

The collaboration aims to utilize OBD's EpiSwitch® technology to develop blood-based biomarkers that can identify patients at risk of RA who can benefit from Abatacept treatment. RA is a chronic inflammatory immune-mediated disease that affects a significant number of individuals in the UK and the US, leading to joint destruction and disability if not adequately treated. The collaboration seeks to address the need for accurate risk assessment and improved stratification tools to identify individuals who will benefit from a durable, efficacious response to treatment.

The APIPPRA trial of Abatacept was a breakthrough in RA prevention, and the collaboration with King's College London aims to leverage OBD's EpiSwitch® technology to identify patients at the highest risk of progressing to RA and likely to benefit from therapeutic intervention with Abatacept in both the short and long term. The collaboration holds promise for delivering biomarkers of high biological relevance, with the potential to significantly impact the treatment of autoimmune conditions, including RA.