This award by the European Union will bring the likelihood of a readily available predictive test for pre-eclampsia closer to fruition, a development that would revolutionise prenatal care. (Pictured: Professor Louise Kenny. image by Tomás Tyner)
The condition, whereby high blood pressure arises in the second half of pregnancy, accounts for as many as 24% of maternal deaths in Europe each year and over 500,000 infant deaths annually across the globe.
This award by the European Union will bring the likelihood of a readily available predictive test for pre-eclampsia closer to fruition, a development that would revolutionise prenatal care. The IMPROvED (IMproved PRegnancy Outcomes by Early Detection) project is coordinated by Professor Louise Kenny, who is Professor of Obstetrics and Consultant Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at Cork University Maternity Hospital.
Professor Kenny is a principal investigator on the project, which is also driven by two other companies, Metabolomic Diagnostics Ltd of Ireland, a UCC spin-out company and Pronota NV of Belgium. Both companies are industry leaders in the discovery and development of novel blood-borne biomarkers for disease prediction.
The four-year IMPROvED project will establish a multicentre clinical study to assess and refine two innovative prototype screening tests for this common late pregnancy complication. One of the two tests was developed at UCC and funded by the Health Research Board and Science Foundation Ireland.
Professor Kenny comments: “Pre-eclampsia affects almost one in 20 first time mothers and globally causes approximately 70,000 maternal deaths each year. We were therefore extremely pleased to see that researchers from different fields, centres and countries were enthusiastic about the IMPROvED project. Our ultimate goal is to develop a robust predictive test for pre-eclampsia and to improve the outcome of pregnancy for both mothers and their babies.”
Katleen Verleysen, CEO of Pronota says: “Currently no clinically useful screening test exists for pre-eclampsia; consequently clinicians are unable to offer targeted surveillance or emerging preventative strategies. We are excited to be part of the consortium. The IMPROvED clinical trial will allow Pronota to progress its proteomics based risk stratification test.”
The IMPROvED project will establish a high quality pregnancy biobank with blood samples collected from 5,000 first-time pregnant women recruited from at least five countries including Ireland, the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands. All recruitment centres involved (UCC, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Klinikum der Universitaet zu Koeln, the University of Liverpool, Karolinska Institute and University of Keele) are major obstetric centres with a proven track record in the research and management of pre-eclampsia. The scientific value of the biobank will be enhanced by the collection and storage of comprehensive clinical data along with the samples (Medscinet AB, Sweden).
Charles Garvey, CEO of Metabolomics Diagnostics adds: “Metabolomic Diagnostics, is delighted to be involved in this innovative consortium: “We believe that an early pregnancy-screening test can make a major contribution to maternal safety and this project, once completed, will help accelerate its adoption.”
Prof Phil Baker (Keele University), co-principal investigator, says: “An effective screening test will allow antenatal care to be tailored to an individual woman’s risk, such that at risk women receive the best possible care. The approval of IMPROvED is a strong endorsement of European researchers and recognises the importance of enhancing maternal and fetal health.”
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