Aberdeen University leading the way with 3,000,000 Euro funding towards osteoporosis research
Osteoporosis is a major healthcare problem in Europe and this is set to increase as the number of older people in the population increases. A new collaborative research project funded by the European Commission, which is being led by researchers at the University of Aberdeen, will improve understanding of how bone formation is regulated with the aim of development of new treatments for patients with osteoporosis.
Recent research has shown that osteoporosis can also be treated with drugs that promote new bone formation, although only one drug is currently available that works in this way. A team of experts from across Europe, led by scientists within the bone research group at Aberdeen University's Institute of Medical Sciences, have been funded 3 Million Euros (approx. £2.1M) to undertake research on the mechanisms of bone formation. The aim will be to develop new drugs that can build bone and repair damage to the skeleton in patients with established osteoporosis. The project "ANABONOS", involves researchers in 13 collaborating centres across Europe in Austria, Belgium, France, Holland, Germany, Switzerland and the UK.
Osteoporosis is associated with thinning of the bone, and this is most commonly caused by the fact that bone is lost from the skeleton with increasing age. Many drug treatments are available for the prevention of osteoporosis and these mostly act by preventing bone loss. These drugs cannot repair damage to the skeleton that has already taken place however, and because of this, the treatments that are currently available are only partly effective at treating patients with established osteoporosis. There is an urgent need to develop new drugs that can replace bone that has been lost from the skeleton, and this need will be addressed by the ANABONOS project.
Professor Stuart H Ralston, leader of the consortium, and Director of the Institute of Medical Sciences at the University of Aberdeen, said: "We are delighted to be leading this project which brings the top research groups from around Europe together to try and gain a better understanding of the factors that regulate bone formation.
"When we identify these factors, we will try and use the information to develop drugs that can be used to build new bone in patients with established osteoporosis."
Professor Ralston added: "As a clinician who sees many patients with advanced osteoporosis, I am only too aware of the limitations of existing treatments. New and better drugs are urgently required and the research that will be carried out within the ANABONOS program offers the real prospect of making significant advances in this key area."
The project was launched in Switzerland on March 20, 2004 and will last for three years.