Multiplex SNP array for the stratification of therapy response in rheumatoid arthritis patients

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory disease affecting 1% of the global population and 400,000 people in the UK. It leads to joint destruction, progressive disability and often mortality. Association of the cytokine, TNF-alpha in RA has led to development and widespread use of anti-TNF drugs to block its pro-inflammatory effects, which are effective in 60-70% of patients. The 30-40% of treated patients, who derive no benefit from these expensive drugs, still incur the cost and possible side effects. The proposed addresses the unmet clinical need for prior identification of patients who will not respond to anti-TNF therapy. The renowned industrial innovation of Randox combined with biomarker discoveries at University of Ulster has created a novel panel of influencing genetic markers for assembly onto a multiplex biochip array to rapidly determine resonse to anti-TNF therapy.