FOLSMART and the strive for a more efficient Rheumatoid Arthritis treatment

Following in the footsteps of NANOFOL, FOLSMART is a project that aims to improve the treatments for Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) and focuses on folate-targeted devices for the activation of macrophages. The translation of laboratory-based medication into phase 1 clinical trials is also a major goal for this project. At the same time, the consortium - which encompasses scientists from four European countries and three Portuguese partners - hopes to establish a spin-off company: Folmatech. Should such ambition come to fruition, this company will be the producer and distributer of the compounds developed.

The project, running from early this year to December 2019, is funded by the European Commission, via Horizon 2020, with almost €5M to introduce novel folate-based nanodevices (FBN) as a treatment option for RA in phase 1 clinical trials. Up until now, RA is being treated with methotrexate (MTX), which has shown lower clinical scores when compared with the nanodevices for folic acid-mediated targeting of activated macrophages in animal models. These results are what prompts the partners to benchmark therapy based on FBN against MTX, highlighting how this approach is more likely to lead to a better clinical outcome, lower toxicity levels and fewer side effects for the patient. Once the clinical trials, conducted by the company Blueclinical, are completed, tests of the new formulation in eight healthy individuals will ensue, starting in 2018. In sum, FOLSMART is paving the way for clinical validation of the therapeutic strategy developed during the 4 years NANOFOL ran.

According to the national project coordinator, Professor Artur Cavaco-Paulo (TecMinho - Universidade do Minho), "not only will the patients benefit from the improved clinical outcomes, but also the health systems' efficiency will be improved by avoiding an early start of biologic therapy". This represents a renewed hope for all patients ailing from RA, an inflammatory chronic and incapacitating disease that affects the joints and has no cure.

The consortium comprises IBMC, Associação Universidade-Empresa para o Desenvolvimento - TecMinho, Blueclinical, INSERM, Universität für Bodenkultur, Medizinische Universität Wien, Synovo GmbH, and GABO:mi.