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Frances Watkins, 5 Feb
A NEW partnership has been announced between the Royal College of
Surgeons in Ireland (RSCI) and staff at Annacotty firm Serosep.
As a result of the link-up, it will see the diagnostics company improve
its treatment for bowel disease, and, it is hoped, improve a patient’s
quality of life.
Under this alliance, researchers with RSCI will work alongside Serosep
staff to accelerate the development of new tests to help predict the
progression of the disease, which damages the lining of the gut over
time.
At present, medications are the most common first line of treatment for
mild-to-moderate bowel disease, and as this progresses, it is managed
with steroids, immunosuppressants and biological drugs.
“Currently there are no biomarkers which allow prediction of disease
progression in patients with ulcerative colitis,” explained
Dr Sudipto Das, lecturer and principal investigator at the RCSI School
of pharmacy and biomolecular sciences.
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Ulcerative colitis is a reference to the bowel disease the scientists
will be working to tackle.
“Through recent work in our lab we have identified specific genes that
can potentially predict disease progression in adult ulcerative colitis
patients,” Dr Das added.
“This in turn would allow early treatment for those patients, and
sparing patients who are less likely to progress from unnecessary
treatment. The ultimate impact of this test would be to improve quality
of life in patients with ulcerative colitis.”
Founded in 1997, Serosep is headquartered at Annacotty and has
subsidiaries in London and Johannesburg in South Africa.
It was named Irish Medtech company of the year in 2022.