News & Events

1. The Community of Madrid grants the company, which received the Seal of Excellence of the European Innovation Council’s Accelerator program, a grant of two million euros to carry out the project
2. The economic burden of rheumatoid arthritis in Europe is estimated at 45billion euros

Madrid, 6^th November 2024. Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects around 300,000 people in Spain.[1] The disease impacts their quality of life while also shortening their life expectancy. In terms of direct and indirect costs, the economic burden is estimated to be 45 billion[2] euros in Europe. While methotrexate (MTX) is a first-line treatment it is ineffective in half of the patients. The problem so far has been to identify those patients that would not benefit from the treatment. To address this issue the Spanish biotechnology company Biohope is developing the first pharmacological in vitro diagnostic (IVD) test to predict this clinical response.

The team behind the launch of this precision medicine tool, MTX-CELL test, has just received a grant of two million euros from the community of Madrid to execute the project. This special grant is awarded to companies that, like Biohope, have obtained the Seal of Excellence within the framework of the European Innovation Council’s Accelerator program.

Isabel Portero, CEO and founder of Biohope, pointed out that “This recognition encourages us to maintain our commitment to R&D in the field of biotechnology and continue developing innovative products for the benefit of thousands of patients. Our scientific ambition is to become a benchmark in personalized medicine for immune-based treatments, because we provide practical solutions that significantly improve clinical outcomes in autoimmune diseases. As in the case of MTX-CELL, these solutions can benefit patients, medical professionals and healthcare systems alike.”

The European Commission awarded a Seal of Excellence to this project, which has been granted funding by the Community of Madrid, prompted by the current challenging situation of patients with rheumatoid arthritis who lack tools to personalize their treatments. Although methotrexate is the first-line drug, it fails to slow the disease in half of the patients treated, leading to disease progression and second-line therapies that, although available, are more expensive. Personalizing the first line of treatment will not only improve patients´ outcomes but also eliminate heavy costs associated with the progression of the disease in the early stages, after diagnosis, where rapid clinical control has been shown to be essential for long-term patient survival.

The MTX-CELL in vitro diagnostic test is poised to revolutionize clinical practice. The valuable patient-specific data obtained by assessing methotrexate’s efficacy in advance, will allow healthcare professionals to optimize the treatment and accelerate positive outcomes. In short, it can increase early response rates and halt the progression of the disease.

This technology paves the way for the progressive adoption of effective therapies, managing the use of every therapy available for the disease in a way that the patients are no longer the “test subjects” for drug efficacy.

Personalization in transplants and autoimmune diseases

Biohope, founded in 2015, is dedicated to the development of in vitro diagnostic tools for precision medicine. Currently, Biohope is focused on completing the final phases of development and validation of MTX-CELL, for patients with rheumatoid arthritis, which will be made possible thanks to the generous grant from the Community of Madrid. The company’s headquarters and state-of-the art laboratories are located within the Madrid Science Park.

The company has already launched its first product, Immunobiogram® (IMBG Ref. 365) to personalize immunosuppressive therapy in transplant patients. It is also developing new in vitro diagnostic tools for other autoimmune diseases and other immune-based conditions, such as psoriatic arthritis, lupus nephritis and multiple sclerosis, which require immunosuppressive treatment.

[1] Press release from the Spanish Society of Rheumatology (4 October 2024): Experts warn about the high costs caused by rheumatoid arthritis, which affects 300,000 people in Spain – SER

[2] Galloway, J. et al. 2020. The impact of disease severity and duration on cost, early retirement, and ability to work in rheumatoid arthritis in Europe: an economic modelling study: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7494042/#:~:text=RA%20is%20the%20commonest%20of,1000%20for%20women%20%5B4%5D. (accessed October 2024)