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FORNY20-FORNY2020

KVAL: New biomarker for predicting relapse in ulcerative colitis patients

Awarded: NOK 0.50 mill.

Project Number:

341788

Project Period:

2022 - 2023

Funding received from:

Ulcerative colitis is chronic inflammation of the intestine that causes symptoms such as abdominal pain, diarrhea and bloody stools. The disease varies in activity where one can have active periods with many symptoms and periods with almost no symptoms. The disease affects around 15,000 people in Norway and is mainly lifelong. There are many good medicines for this disease and you often use several different types depending on how active the disease is. Some medications are taken permanently, while others are only started when you are in an active period. The aim of the treatment is primarily to prevent an active period and then to shorten the periods of active disease in order to reduce the treatment when you are once again in a quiet period. A study carried out at the University Hospital of Northern Norway in Tromsø (UNN) found that a test carried out on intestinal biopsies could potentially alert you in advance of an upcoming active period. This can have the potential advantage that one can start with potent medication before the active period starts and thus prevent it. This can have a significant effect on the quality of life for the patient with ulcerative colitis. In 2023, a validation study was carried out to confirm the findings from the original study. The results confirmed the findings from this study, but unfortunately the test characteristics were too poor to be used in everyday clinical practice. Efforts are now being made to publish these results so that research environments all over the world have access to them. This can help to promote the common understanding of the underlying mechanisms of Ulcerative Colitis and in this way contribute to finding new ways to treat the disease.

The validation cohort collected during the project period could confirm the tendency observed in the earlier discovery cohort. However, the overall the test characteristics were not sufficiently solid to initiate a commercialization process. As a consequence, the project is closed, pending publication of the results in peer reviewed scientific journal.

Funding scheme:

FORNY20-FORNY2020