Almirall announces collaboration with University of Michigan
pharmafile | March 15, 2022 | News story | Manufacturing and Production |
Almirall has announced a collaboration agreement with the University of Michigan to accelerate the understanding of the factors that trigger hidradenitis suppurativa, a chronic and inflammatory skin condition.
Almirall is a global biopharmaceutical company, focused on skin health.
Through the partnership, Almirall’s expertise in skin diseases will be combined with the knowledge of the Dermatology Department at the University of Michigan, led by Dr Johann E Gudjonsson, investigating relevant aspects of this disease such as chronic disease dissection and fibrosis.
“This partnership aims for a deeper understanding of hidradenitis suppurativa, a complex disease with large unmet medical needs. An in-depth knowledge of disease drivers will enable novel therapeutic approaches to provide treatment options for patients suffering from this severe condition”, stated Dr Thomas Huber, Research Director at Almirall.
Hidradenitis suppurativa is caused by occlusion of the hair follicle. Occlusion refers to the blockage or closing of a blood vessel. Follicular occlusion results in ruptures, causing inflammatory skin disease, nodules, abscesses and, in later stages, sinus tract formation and scarring.
In spite of significant advances in the understanding of the disease being made in recent years, its pathogenesis is not fully understood. It is also associated with comorbidities that significantly decrease the quality of life of patients.
Additionally, the treatment of hidradenitis suppurativa is challenging, and often requires surgery.
“This collaboration will provide resources that we hope will greatly increase our understanding of the critical disease mechanisms that drive the pathogenesis of hidradenitis using state-of-the-art technologies and analytics”, said Johann E. Gudjonsson, MD, PhD, professor of dermatology at University of Michigan Health, Michigan Medicine. “We envision that this will greatly accelerate the path from discovery to novel treatments, which will help us better treat this disease.”
Ana Ovey
