Repurposing anti-cancer drugs for RA

Scientists at Newcastle University have been awarded £1m for a clinical trial to see whether a drug developed to treat cancer can be ‘repurposed’ to treat rheumatoid arthritis.

The drug works by targeting a different type of cell from conventional therapies and could therefore succeed where conventional treatments have failed.

“Repurposing of drugs is a potentially powerful way of bridging the gap between early stage research and development of a new treatment. Compared with traditional drug discovery approaches, this is a considerably cheaper and quicker route to the clinic because it 'leap-frogs' the early stages of drug development.  If our trial proves successful it could dramatically improve the treatment outcomes for RA patients."

Professor John Isaacs

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