Researchers developing a world-first treatment that targets an underlying cause of asthma have secured a $499,640 grant from the Future Health, Research and Innovation Fund – Innovation Seed Fund (FHRI ISF).
Dr Thomas Iosifidis, a postdoctoral researcher in the Airway Epithelial Research team at the Wal-yan Respiratory Centre – a powerhouse partnership between The Kids Research Institute Australia, Perth Children's Hospital Foundation and Perth Children's Hospital – is leading the project, which is striving to reduce asthma’s overwhelming burden on individuals, communities, and healthcare systems.
Asthma is a common chronic condition of the airways which affects more than 2.8 million Australians, with a total economic/healthcare cost exceeding $28 billion annually.
Dr Iosifidis said the team is developing a treatment that enhances airway repair.
“Airway dysfunction/repair issues apply to half of all asthma patients - which means that it will potentially benefit half of all asthma patients worldwide, if proven to be effective,” Dr Iosifidis said.
“Therefore, our therapeutic approach is expected to reduce overall asthma-related hospitalisations in WA by up to 50 per cent. This has the potential to translate to avoiding more than 2,000 hospitalisations annually.”
Existing and emerging asthma treatments act as a band-aid to reduce symptoms, without addressing the underlying cause of disease. This means asthma still cannot be prevented or cured. Many individuals are left with a life-long treatment burden and remain at high-risk for severe asthma attacks and poor quality of life.
“Our team discovered that defects in how airway cells repair and respond to injury are key drivers of severe asthma symptoms requiring hospitalisation,” Dr Iosifidis said.
“We have identified new drugs that boost airway repair, providing the first opportunity to reverse this underlying asthma abnormality.
“This therapy reverses asthma disease, rather than just preventing asthma attacks. Rather than treating symptoms, our therapeutics will provide a unique opportunity to halt disease progression, stop asthma symptoms and prevent the long-term burden of asthma.”
This therapy has the potential to:
- Restore healthy lungs among half of all children with asthma
- Halve the number of children who experience symptoms that keep them home from school and missing other activities
- Enable asthmatic kids to experience a healthy lung development trajectory, in line with their peers, into adulthood
“This grant will help us take a key step in the translation and commercialisation of our novel asthma treatments aimed at improving health outcomes throughout the life-course,” Dr Iosifidis said.
The grant is being administered by The University of Western Australia.
This work aligns with Asthma Australia’s CURE Asthma initiative and the National Asthma Research Agenda, and it has the support of the Respiratory Care WA (previously Asthma WA), with Acting CEO Rael Rivers being a member of the investigator team.