Canadian patients to benefit from renewal of CIHR/RX&D Health Research Partnership Agreement

    Projects include studies of HIV drug regimen, Hepatitis C, Type 2
    diabetes, pain management and quality of life after knee replacement

    OTTAWA, Feb. 8 /CNW Telbec/ - The Canadian Institutes of Health Research
(CIHR) and Canada's Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies (Rx&D) announced
today the renewal of the CIHR/Rx&D Collaborative Research Program.
    Over the past five years, the program has invested over $320 million in
valuable research projects at universities and teaching hospitals across
Canada, making this the largest and most successful public-private health
research program in the country. Project examples include: finding new ways to
prevent Type 2 diabetes, improve pain management; and create more effective
treatments for Hepatitis C, HIV/AIDS and many other diseases.
    "Through this collaboration we will continue to support the creation of
new knowledge and its translation into new clinical practices and innovative
health policies," said CIHR President Dr. Alan Bernstein. "For example, the
results of the DREAM(*) trial, one of the projects supported through the first
phase of our joint agreement, have provided us new information on a potential
drug regimen to address Type 2 Diabetes."
    "We are committed to working with governments throughout Canada to ensure
that patients remain the first priority of our health-care system," said
Russell Williams, President of Rx&D. "The renewal of the CIHR/Rx&D
Collaborative Research Program reflects our ongoing commitment to supporting
health research aimed at improving the health of Canadians and the efficiency
of our health-care system."
    The objective of the CIHR/Rx&D Collaborative Research Program focuses on
building clinical research support through personnel awards such as CIHR-Rx&D
Research Chairs and operating support programs, including research grants and
clinical trials.
    The program, which has been in existence for more than 15 years, also
encourages the sharing of best practices in clinical research, leading to
better training of investigators and more comprehensive clinical trials. These
activities reflect an ongoing commitment to research and the creation of new
and innovative ideas, ideas critical to improved health and Canada's
competitiveness in the global knowledge-based economy.

    Here are some examples of the many innovative research projects funded
across Canada under this program:

    - Dr. Julio Montaner, from St. Paul's Hospital (University of British
      Columbia), is leading an international effort to make it easier for HIV
      patients to adhere to their treatments by examining the safety and
      tolerability of taking two protease inhibitors once a day instead of
      twice a day;

    - Dr. Lorne Tyrell, from the University of Alberta, is contributing to
      the development of a better treatment for patients infected with the
      Hepatitis C virus by testing immune cells and molecules to treat this
      chronic virus in the mouse model his team developed;

    - Dr. Hertzel Gerstein, from McMaster University, is testing the ability
      of ramipril and rosiglitazone to prevent Type 2 diabetes in over 5,000
      people from populations at high risk of diabetes, including aboriginal
      and South Asian people. The results of the DREAM trial (Diabetes
      REduction Approaches with ramipril and rosiglitazone Medications), will
      provide a new strategy for preventing Type 2 diabetes and its
      complications;

    - Dr. Celeste Johnston, from McGill University, is testing a standardized
      program developed by the Canadian Pain Society aimed at reducing the
      amount of pain experienced by hospitalized Canadians; and

    - Ms. Gillian Hatfield, from Dalhousie University, is examining gait
      patterns - including joint dynamics and muscle function during walking
      - to find ways of changing these patterns.  For people who have
      undergone total knee replacement, even small changes to their walking
      styles could increase the life span of the joint and improve their
      quality of life.

    To view a copy of the latest CIHR/Rx&D Collaborative Research Program
progress report, please visit: http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/25243.html

    About CIHR

    The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is the Government of
Canada's agency for health research. CIHR's mission is to create new
scientific knowledge and to catalyze its translation into improved health,
more effective health services and products, and a strengthened Canadian
health care system. Composed of 13 Institutes, CIHR provides leadership and
support to more than 10,000 health researchers and trainees across Canada.
www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca

    About Rx&D

    Canada's Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies (Rx&D) is an association
of members dedicated to improving the health of all Canadians. As a partner in
the health-care system, our discoveries help eliminate the need for medical
procedures such as surgery, which have a significant impact on patient quality
of life and health-care budgets. Our community represents over 22,000 men and
women working for more than 50 member companies in Canada and is responsible
for generating 100,000 jobs across Canada. www.canadapharma.org


    (*) Diabetes REduction Approaches with ramipril and rosiglitazone
        Medications


                    Examples of projects supported by the
         CIHR/Rx&D Collaborative Research Program across the country

                               BRITISH COLUMBIA

    Simplifying the lives of HIV patients

    Treatments for HIV are highly effective, but only if patients adhere
closely to them - something made more difficult by the large numbers of pills
patients have to take each day.
    Dr. Julio Montaner from St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver is leading an
international effort to make it easier for patients to adhere to their
treatments, through a randomized multicentre study of 150 HIV-infected
patients. The study will examine the safety and tolerability of taking two
protease inhibitors once a day compared with taking them twice a day. It will
also evaluate the pharmacokinetics - how the drug operates in the body over
time - of each regimen.

                                   ALBERTA

    Accelerating a cure for Hepatitis C

    Hepatitis C virus causes chronic inflammation of the liver. The
inflammation can lead to cirrhosis (hardening of the liver) or hepatoma
(cancer of the liver). Approximately 200,000 Canadians are infected with the
Hepatitis C virus. No vaccine exists for the virus, and treatment is
expensive, has frequent side effects and is relatively ineffective.
    Lack of an animal model for testing new vaccines or drugs has been a major
barrier to developing new therapies. Now, Dr. Lorne Tyrell, from the
University of Alberta, and his team have developed a mouse model for Hepatitis
C infection. Their work will help researchers throughout the world in their
search for new vaccines or drugs for Hepatitis C. Dr. Tyrell and his team will
focus on testing immune cells and molecules to treat chronic Hepatitis C in
the mouse. These studies will contribute to the development of a better
treatment for patients infected with the Hepatitis C virus.

                                 SASKATCHEWAN

    Making schizophrenia drugs more effective

    Antipsychotic drugs come in two categories - typical, which induce many
undesirable side effects, and atypical, whose beneficial effects come without
or with many fewer of the undesirable side effects of typical antipsychotics.
    Dr. Xin-Min Li of the Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon believes this
may be because atypical antipsychotics seem to protect brain neurons against
free radical toxicity. He will test his hypothesis by observing rats treated
with both typical and atypical antipsychotics to determine their impacts on
the areas of the brain thought to be involved in the side effects induced by
the typical antipsychotics. His research will improve our understanding of
atypical antipsychotic drugs and help to increase the efficiency of these
drugs on diseases such as schizophrenia.

                                   MANITOBA

    The search for a new treatment for Alzheimer's Disease

    Alzheimer's Disease (AD) is the fourth-leading cause of death in Canada
and the U.S. and the most common cause of dementia in elderly populations,
affecting more than five million North Americans. The most common
neurodegenerative disease of aging, it causes the loss of mental faculties and
motor skills, including personality alterations and, eventually, death.
    Although the cause of AD is unknown in the majority of the cases, we know
that one of its subsets, which run in families, is caused by mutations in a
protein called presenilin. Little is known about the normal function of
presenilin or why mutations cause AD. However, researchers have found that
neurons that contain this mutation die more quickly when put under stress,
most likely because of excess calcium production from the endoplasmic
reticulum, where presenilin is concentrated.
    Dr. Gordon Glazner from the University of Manitoba is focusing on enzymes
whose activity is stimulated by the release of calcium from the endoplasmic
reticulum, to learn more about how presenilin mutations increase the
vulnerability of neurons to stress-induced death, possibly opening new avenues
for treating AD.

                                   ONTARIO

    Reducing Type 2 Diabetes in High Risk People

    One in 25 adults worldwide is diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and a further
30% or more have undiagnosed diabetes. Type 2 diabetes carries a high risk of
blindness, renal failure, amputations, myocardial infarction and stroke and
costs Canadians $7-10 billion a year.
    In a previous study entitled the Heart Outcomes Prevention Evaluation
(HOPE) study, an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor called ramipril used
to treat high blood pressure, reduced self-reported new cases of diabetes by
34%. The HOPE study did not, however, objectively test people for diabetes.
    The DREAM (Diabetes REduction Approaches with ramipril and rosiglitazone
Medications) study, a randomized clinical trial led by Dr. Hertzel Gerstein of
McMaster University and his team, is now testing the ability of ramipril and
rosiglitazone to prevent Type 2 diabetes. The study involves over 5,000 people
from populations at high risk of diabetes, including Aboriginal and South
Asian peoples. DREAM will help to reduce Type 2 Diabetes in these populations
and alleviate the burden of this disease.

                                   QUEBEC

    Improving treatment for heart disease

    Coronary atherosclerosis, a narrowing of the arteries that supply the
heart, is the leading cause of death worldwide.
    Dr. Jean-Claude Tardif from the Montreal Heart Institute of the University
of Montreal wants to develop new ways to treat patients with coronary
atherosclerosis using medication and nutrition that have antioxidant or
anti-inflammatory properties. Dr. Tardif holds a Research Chair in
Atherosclerosis. Through this Chair, Dr. Tardif is using state-of-the-art
imaging modalities and large clinical trials to test the effectiveness of his
approach. The results of his work could have a profound impact on the
treatment and quality of life of patients with coronary atherosclerosis.

    Improving pain assessment

    Canadians in hospital suffer pain - even though there are many ways to
prevent and treat it. Two major obstacles to effective pain management are
patients holding myths about pain and staff not taking time to assess and
treat pain.
    Dr. Celeste Johnston of McGill University is testing a standardized
program developed under the Canadian Pain Society. Patients in community and
teaching hospitals will receive a bookmark upon admission outlining their
rights to have pain treated and dispelling common myths about pain, such as
"pain is all in your head". Staff will receive the same bookmark. The pain
experienced by these patients will be compared with that experienced by
patients in similar hospitals, who do not receive the bookmarks. Results of
this study will provide guidelines for a larger, nation-wide study to
determine if the bookmark can change the amount of pain experienced by
hospitalized Canadians.

                                 NOVA SCOTIA

    Minimizing the need for repeat surgeries after total knee replacement

    Total knee replacement surgery is the treatment option for end-stage
osteoarthritis. Outcomes have improved over the past decade with current joint
survival rates of 80-95 % at 10 years. However, younger, more active patients
often require repeat surgery as the joint wears out.
    Ms. Gillian Hatfield of Dalhousie University is examining gait patterns -
including joint dynamics and muscle function during walking - to learn more
about their effect on joint stability. Her work could help design methods to
change gait patterns to increase the life span of the joint and improve the
quality of life of people who have undergone total knee replacement.

                             PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND

    Finding a treatment for Alzheimer's Disease

    By 2020, some 1.5 million Canadians will suffer from some form of
age-related dementia, in most cases Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Without any
cure, it is estimated that, by 2025, AD patients will cost the Canadian health
care system approximately $50 billion/year.
    The need for new treatments is urgent. It has been shown that a disruption
in calcium levels and their normal signaling patterns within cells is a
hallmark of neuron death in AD. Dr. Michael Mayne from the University of
Prince Edward Island is studying a group of proteins called ryanodine
receptors (RR) that regulate calcium levels in neurons. Neurons exposed to
amyloid beta, which accumulates in high levels in AD brains, have increased
levels of RR, which correlates with disruptions in normal signaling events and
renders the neurons highly sensitive to cell death. The team is now
determining how amyloid beta regulates the gene expression and function of RR.
This study could determine if RR are a therapeutic target for the treatment of
AD.

                          NEWFOUNDLAND AND LABRADOR

    Preventing Cognitive Impairment

    Exercising both the brain and the body may be the best way of preventing
cognitive decline or dementia. Dr. Dale Corbett from Memorial University of
Newfoundland is examining whether keeping the body and mind active can help
keep our brains fit. Dr. Corbett is identifying molecular mechanisms, such as
changes in brain growth factors that help physical exercise and cognitive
activity maintain brain health. This knowledge will facilitate the development
of new therapies to prevent or slow age-related cognitive decline.

For further information: David Coulombe, CIHR Media Relations, (613)
941-4563, mediarelations@cihr-irsc.gc.ca; François Lessard, Communications and
Public Affairs, Rx&D, (613) 236-0455, ext. 831, flessard@canadapharma.org