Melbourne’s Bionics Institute has been awarded AUD$4.8 million (USD $3.2 million) by an American charitable trust to fund research into the development of a world-first, personalised, electrical treatment for Crohn’s disease.
Finding new ways to prevent and treat Crohn’s disease is a key focus for New York-based organisation The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, which has committed to funding this groundbreaking research over the next three years.
Dr Jessica Langer, Program Officer from the Helmsley Charitable Trust, said: “Current treatment options are insufficient to meet the needs of people with Crohn’s disease, and are often only effective in a subset of patients or lose efficacy over time. That’s why we are excited to support this novel, adaptive treatment approach, which holds promise to improve the lives of people with Crohn’s disease.”
Bionics Institute Board Chair, Mr John Stanhope AM says that the goal of the institute is to provide a better quality of life for people suffering from hard-to-treat medical conditions.
“We are delighted to partner with the Helmsley Charitable Trust to develop a device that could revolutionise the treatment of Crohn’s disease,” he said.
Led by Bionics Institute’s Professor James Fallon and Associate Professor Sophie Payne, researchers will upgrade a Bionics Institute vagus nerve stimulation device, currently in clinical trials for treating Crohn’s disease, into an intelligent device that monitors inflammation and adjusts therapeutic stimulation in real time.
Professor Fallon says: “The current version of this device is programmed to give three hours of electrical stimulation per day with the intention of keeping patients with Crohn’s disease in remission. We aim to design a new version of the device that stimulates the nerve only when inflammation is detected – essentially delivering personalised therapy.”
Associate Professor Payne says that despite advances in drug therapies, 70% of patients with Crohn’s experience recurring symptoms after a period of remission, and usually require surgery to remove diseased parts of their bowel.
“We hope our drug-free device leads to a day when people with Crohn’s disease have better quality of life and won’t have to depend on medication or need invasive bowel surgery,” she says.
Crohn’s disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that can cause severe abdominal pain, diarrhoea, fatigue, weight loss and malnutrition. It is estimated that 10 million people worldwide suffer from IBD.
Melbourne mother of two Sara Ferola says she struggles every day with the debilitating effects of Crohn’s disease. “Some days the pain is so bad, I can’t even get out of bed or shower without being doubled over in agony,” she says. The Bionics Institute’s research into new drug-free treatments gives people like me hope of a better future.”
Learn more about our vagus nerve device for Crohn’s disease.
Learn more about The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust
