M40 Alliance forms to accelerate arthritis therapy

A new partnership has been formed between the Universities of Oxford and Birmingham to speed up the development of novel treatments for arthritis, supported by a £7 million investment from the Kennedy Trust for Rheumatology Research. A new partnership to speed up the development of novel treatments for arthritis has been launched, supported by a £7 million investment from the Kennedy Trust for Rheumatology Research. The partnership between the Universities of Oxford and Birmingham will be based at the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology at Oxford and the Institute of Translational Medicine in Birmingham. It will harness the existing research strengths of both universities in order to accelerate the development and testing of new therapies for patients. The Arthritis Therapy Acceleration Programme (A-TAP) will develop and test therapies based on the underlying causes of inflammatory disease, rather than simply treating the clinical symptoms. The 'M40 alliance' between the two universities will develop a network of consultants, nurses and clinical researchers in clinical units along the M40 corridor. In addition to clinical centres in Oxford and Birmingham, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire will also be involved, with the two A-TAP Hubs being situated in the Institute of Translational Medicine in Birmingham and the Botnar Research Centre in Oxford.