The three-year collaboration agreement signed on March 31, 2021 between the Institut Pasteur, the Paris Public Hospital Network (AP-HP) and Janssen Biotech, Inc., the R&D partner of Janssen France, one of the pharmaceutical companies in the Johnson & Johnson group, paves the way for research into the signaling pathways involved in chronic inflammatory rheumatic diseases.
One of the aims of the partnership is to improve our understanding of the biology of disease and to improve treatment of inflammatory joint diseases by conducting multi-omics research based on patient samples and associated detailed phenotypic data.
The project involves Lars Rogge, Head of the Immunoregulation Unit (a joint AP-HP/Institut Pasteur unit) at the Institut Pasteur, Guna Rajagopal, Global Head of Computational Sciences, Discovery Sciences at Janssen Research & Development, and Dan Cua, Vice-President Immunology and IL-23 Pathway Area Leader at Janssen, as well as Professor Corinne Richard-Miceli from the Rheumatology Department at Cochin Hospital (AP-HP), Joint Head of the Immunoregulation Unit (a joint AP-HP/Institut Pasteur unit) and AP-HP scientific coordinator for the project.
The Immunoregulation Unit (a joint AP-HP/Institut Pasteur unit) investigates the signaling pathways, epigenetic modifications and genetic networks that regulate human helper T cell differentiation, with the aim of elucidating the pathogenic mechanisms involved in some chronic inflammatory diseases.
The establishment of a joint unit with the Rheumatology Department at Cochin Hospital (AP-HP) in Paris a few years ago enabled Lars Rogge and his team to develop a pipeline of biological tests to evaluate patient immune responses and determine the effects of biological treatments (especially TNF inhibitors) on patient immune systems through access to large, highly annotated cohorts of patients.
Collaboration with Janssen Biotech, Inc. and three clinical departments in the Paris Public Hospital Network (the Rheumatology Departments at Cochin Hospital (AP-HP) and Saint-Antoine Hospital (AP-HP) and the Dermatology Department at Cochin Hospital (AP-HP), under the scientific coordination of Professor Corinne Richard-Miceli (Rheumatology Department at Cochin Hospital (AP-HP)) will further this work on cytokine signaling in chronic inflammation and should improve our understanding of the role played by molecules associated with the IL-23/IL-17 signaling pathway in the pathogenesis of these conditions.
More informations about Johnson & Johnson Innovation : www.jnjinnovation.com.
More informations about Janssen France : www.janssen.com/france
