Post date:
A partnership to help tackle the growing challenges of infections and inflammation has been allocated a £27.6 million funding boost.
The Edinburgh-led initiative will initially focus on speeding up the creation of new treatments for lung infections and inflammation, which are among the world’s leading causes of illness and death.
The Research and Partnership Hub in Microscale Science and Technology to Accelerate Therapeutic Innovation (MicroTex) unites engineering with robotics, AI, chemistry, physics, biology and clinical medicine.
It will develop innovative technologies to rapidly advance drug development by delivering tiny amounts of drugs to precise locations in the body.
Microdosing
The technique – known as microdosing – also measures the drugs’ effectiveness and will enable a new wave of small and streamlined clinical trials, experts say.
The approach, which has already shown promise, has the potential to help experts identify and develop new treatments for infection and inflammation more quickly and efficiently than before.
Researchers expect microdosing to limit the need for animal research, by allowing new drugs to be tested more safely for the first time in humans.
The team also hope to reduce the costs of developing new drugs to treat lung infections, which is currently an expensive, lengthy and highly resource intensive process.
Antimicrobial resistance
MicroTex will help tackle challenges of drug development including staying ahead of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which occurs when bacteria, viruses and parasites no longer respond to antimicrobial medicines.
An increasingly serious consequence of AMR is to make common treatments such as chemotherapy, caesarean sections, and organ transplants much riskier.
AMR has been identified as a top global public health threat by the World Health Organization and is considered by experts as a threat to many of the gains of modern medicine.
Collaborative research
MicroTex is led by the University of Edinburgh, and based in the Baillie Gifford Pandemic Science Hub in the Institute of Regeneration and Repair. Partners include the University of Bath and Heriot-Watt University, LifeArc Rare Respiratory Diseases Centre, Baillie Gifford, patient groups, international and industrial collaborators.
The Hub will be funded for the next six years by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). It will receive £11 million from the government supported by £16.6 million from partner funders.
Professor Ian Underwood, Institute of Integrated Micro and Nano Systems, School of Engineering, said:
“By innovating at the microscale, the Edinburgh-led MicroTex Hub is set to transform the fight against drug-resistant diseases, harnessing the power of advanced technology to accelerate the development of life-saving treatments. By bringing together experts across medicine, science and engineering, we will collaborate to develop solutions which will help safeguard the future of global health.”
Professor Kev Dhaliwal, Baillie Gifford Pandemic Science Hub, Institute for Regeneration and Repair, Edinburgh BioQuarter, said:
“In a post-Covid world, the urgency to outpace infectious and inflammatory diseases and be prepared for the next pandemic, has never been greater. The MicroTex hub will deliver a critical leap forward in this race. The Hub brings together a highly diverse team of researchers and a wide range of partners to innovate, collaborate and transform drug development with microdosing.”
Lord Vallance, UK Science Minister, said:
“These innovative technologies have the potential to improve patient care in the UK and around the world. By investing in this research, we are enabling scientists to develop life-changing technologies.”
