Janssen and NIHR to conduct rheumatoid arthritis drug research

Janssen has announced a new research collaboration with the UK's National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), focusing on rheumatoid arthritis treatment approaches.

The study will aim to determine why anti-TNFs, the current gold standard biological treatment for people with rheumatoid arthritis, do not work in around one-third of patients. The team will investigate key mechanisms associated with a lack of response to this treatment, thus opening new routes for developing alternative therapies.

Additionally, the research will make it possible to target treatment with anti-TNFs at patients who will respond best, thus ensuring that NHS budgets are used as effectively as possible.

Set to recruit 50 patients with rheumatoid arthritis over a period of 18 months, this collaborative study will run across seven research centres.

UK life sciences minister George Freeman said: "As we embrace the 21st century model of precision medicines’ research into how and why existing drugs affect patients in different ways is vital to better targeting drugs and our NHS budgets to maximise benefits for patients."

The company is known for producing Remicade and Simponi, two common therapies for rheumatoid arthritis.