New drug test may protect volunteers

Tuesday December 16th, 2008

Scientists believe they can prevent repeats of a drug-testing catastrophe that seriously injured six volunteers.

New laboratory tests have been developed for drugs for the immune system, a conference was to be told today.

In 2006 eight healthy volunteers were recruited to test a new drug for the immune system at Northwick Park Hospital, Middlesex, UK.

Six volunteers suffered catastrophic reactions and ended up seriously ill. One was in hospital for four months.

Details of the new tests were being revealed at a conference of the British Pharmacological Society in Brighton, UK, today.

Dr Stephen Poole, of the National Institute for Biological Standards and Control, said the new tests have successfully reproduced the reactions in test-tube conditions.

Dr Poole said that what happened at Northwick Park was "the most obvious setback for medicines testing since thalidomide."

It was hoped the drug under testing, TGN1412, would help in the treatment of diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis, which are caused by the immune system going awry. It was also hoped it might treat leukaemia.

The new tests go beyond tests on white blood cells, as was done for TGN1412. Instead they also use cells that line blood vessels.

Dr Poole said: "Such tests could prevent harmful drugs of this type even reaching the animal-testing stage."

Tags: Rheumatology | UK News

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