UK IBD genetics consortium, IBD BioResource, and Sanger Institute researchers led by Prof Miles Parkes and Dr Carl Anderson have helped identify >320 genes which increase the risk of developing IBD – highlighting abnormal pathways causing IBD and informing IBD drug development. In Feb 2023 we approached AstraZeneca seeking collaborative support for a project working with clinicians in >100 UK hospitals gathering new information from the medical records of 33,000 people who enrolled in IBD BioResource 2016-2020 (pre-pandemic). In the 3-7 years since recruitment many participants have been treated with the new generation of IBD drugs (ustekinumab/vedolizumab/tofacitinib etc) or developed complications of IBD - and we want to capture data regarding their outcomes.
We will use this rich new information to identify genes associated with response to advanced IBD drugs and development of complications of IBD to:
1. Help understand why patients respond to some drugs but not others – enabling better treatment targeting and less ‘suck-it-and-see‘ a. also which patients lose response to anti-TNF (affects 50%)
2. Highlight targets for new IBD drugs to prevent feared ‘surgery-requiring’ complications – blockages (‘strictures’), perianal fistulas and cancer.
