Latest news with #WEHI
The Star
26-06-2025
- Health
- The Star
No more getting sick to diagnose coeliac disease
Coeliac disease requires patients to completely avoid foods containing gluten, while a gluten intolerance usually allows some leeway. – dpa Diagnosing coeliac disease has long been an arduous and daunting process in which people thought to have the condition have to eat wheat – the very food that will make them sick if the concerns prove true. But a new 'game changer' method could make running the gluten gauntlet a thing of the past, according to developers at Australia's Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI) in Victoria and Brisbane-based Novoviah Pharmaceuticals. They claim their 'world-first' blood test can diagnose the disease even among people who switch to gluten-free diets as a precaution. Published in the medical journal Gastroenterology , the team's work details how 'gluten-specific T-cells can detect coeliac disease, even when no gluten has been eaten'. Not only could the new test pinpoint who could be 'at risk of severe reactions to gluten', it raises the prospect of preemptive detection of 'silent' disease among those who are asymptomatic. Around 80% of potential cases worldwide could be going undiagnosed, according to the researchers, who pointed out that 'many people are deterred from seeking a definite diagnosis because they do not want to consume gluten and be sick'. 'This new test promises to simplify and speed up accurate diagnosis, while also avoiding the suffering that comes with eating gluten for extended periods to reactivate coeliac disease,' said WEHI consultant gastroenterologist Associate Professor Dr Jason Tye-Din. 'This breakthrough is deeply personal as it could spare others from the gruelling diagnostic process I had to endure,' said WEHI PhD student Olivia Moscatelli, a member of the research team who was confirmed to have coeliac disease when she was 18. An immune reaction to the gluten protein found in wheat, rye and barley, coeliac disease damages the intestine and prevents sufferers from absorbing nutrients, with some estimates suggesting that it could affect one in 100 people worldwide. – dpa
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
‘Game-changer' new blood test to detect prevalent autoimmune disease without nightmare side effects
People with coeliac disease may soon be able to avoid consuming large quantities of gluten – the substance that triggers their symptoms – to get a diagnosis. New clinical research published in the journal Gastroenterology has shown a 'game-changer' blood test for gluten-specific T cells that can detect coeliac disease – even when no gluten has been consumed. Currently, people with suspected coeliac are required to eat large amounts of gluten for weeks to get an accurate diagnosis. However, researchers said the new blood test could boost rates of diagnosis, identify patients at risk of severe reactions to gluten and detect silent coeliac disease in asymptomatic people. Coeliac disease is an autoimmune condition where the body attacks its own tissues when gluten is eaten, which prevents normal digestion and absorption of food, with the risk of developing serious health complications. It is driven by eating gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley and rye. An estimated 1 in 100 people have it in the UK. However, only 36 per cent with the condition are clinically diagnosed, according to Coeliac UK. Undiagnosed or untreated coeliac disease can result in complications such as osteoporosis, unexplained infertility, neurological dysfunction and, in rare instances, small bowel cancer, Coeliac UK says. Currently, all coeliac testing methods require regular gluten consumption to be effective, the researchers said. Many people are deterred from seeking a definite diagnosis because they do not want to consume gluten and be sick, the Australia-based scientists added. Associate Professor Jason Tye-Din, Head of WEHI's Coeliac Research Laboratory and a gastroenterologist at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, said: 'There are likely millions of people around the world living with undiagnosed coeliac disease simply because the path to diagnosis is difficult, and at times, debilitating.' 'By eliminating the need for a gluten challenge, we're addressing one of the biggest deterrents in current diagnostic practices,' she added. 'This test could be a game-changer, sparing thousands of people the emotional and physical toll of returning to gluten. It's a major step towards faster, safer diagnosis.' The study evaluated the potential of a blood test to measure an immune marker interleukin 2 (IL-2). In 2019, researchers found this immune marker spiked in the bloodstream of people with coeliac disease shortly after they ate gluten. The scientists used blood samples from 181 volunteers, including 75 people with treated coeliac disease, 13 with active, untreated coeliac disease, 32 people with non-coeliac gluten sensitivity and 61 healthy people. Participant blood samples were then mixed with gluten in a test tube for a day to see if the IL-2 signal appeared. The team was 'thrilled' to find the test could detect the condition with up to 90 per cent sensitivity and 97 per cent specificity – even in patients following a strict gluten-free diet, PhD researcher Olivia Moscatelli, who was diagnosed with coeliac disease at 18, said. The IL-2 signal only increased in the volunteers with coeliac disease, showing the immune response to gluten can be detected in a tube, without the need to consume gluten, researchers said. Ms Moscatelli said the test also performed exceptionally well in people with coeliac disease who had other autoimmune conditions, such as type 1 diabetes or Hashimoto's thyroiditis. The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute team are now collaborating with Novoviah Pharmaceuticals to confirm the test's accuracy across diverse populations and find real-world data.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Novel T Cell Measurement System by Novoviah Pharmaceuticals Demonstrates High Accuracy for Clinical Disease Detection and Monitoring of Celiac Disease
BRISBANE, Australia, June 10, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Novoviah Pharmaceuticals announces that their novel clinical platform technology for detecting and monitoring disease by measuring immune reactivity has been successfully tested in Celiac Disease, with results published in Gastroenterology. The NovoleukinTM test platform, developed specifically for clinical use, measures T Cell reactivity in fresh whole blood after 24-hour in vitro stimulation with a target antigen. The proprietary technology boosts T Cell activity after blood collection, enabling accurate cytokine biomarker measurement and comparison with unstimulated controls. This can be used to monitor disease reactivity status and the effectiveness of prospective therapeutics. Originally developed for multi-center clinical trials, the NovoleukinTM system has potential for broader clinical use. Its utility and performance were demonstrated in collaboration with WEHI researchers who analyzed blood samples from 181 volunteers to identify the presence and assess the severity of celiac disease. The results show high sensitivity (90%) and specificity (95%) in detecting celiac disease, even in patients following a strict gluten free diet which normally confounds traditional diagnostic methods. The test detects as few as one gluten-specific T lymphocyte in one milliliter of blood or one per million CD4+ T cells. This level of sensitivity in a straightforward blood test is a landmark technical achievement and promises to impact patient care in many fields and accelerate immunotherapy and vaccine development. Associate Professor Jason Tye-Din, Head of WEHI's Celiac Research Laboratory and a gastroenterologist at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, highlighted the test's promise for simplifying diagnosis and removing a significant barrier in current diagnostics. "By stimulating T cells after a blood draw, patients can avoid the need to return to gluten and the suffering that often comes with that – for the sole purpose of diagnosis. That is a major step towards improving outcomes for patients." The test was also predictive of patient responses during gluten challenge protocols, underscoring its utility in stratifying patients for clinical research and tailoring therapeutic strategies. Dr Robert Anderson, co-founder of Novoviah Pharmaceuticals, current President of the International Society for the Study of Celiac Disease and a practicing gastroenterologist, said the study highlights the potential of practical, blood-based T cell diagnostics in clinic and for clinical trials. "The test is designed for ease of use in the clinical setting. It can be prepared without specialist equipment and then sent for highly sensitive laboratory analysis. The protocol is simple and reproducible enabling easy rollout across multiple sites," Dr Anderson said. The Novoleukin test's ability to detect disease and measure changes in immune response has proven invaluable in the developmental journey for drug developers. "Non-invasively monitoring T cell reactivity opens the door to transformative clinical applications, particularly in drug development," Dr Anderson added. "The platform is already being used by leading biopharma partners to evaluate immune responses during celiac disease clinical trials, offering real-time insights into treatment efficacy." Novoviah is actively expanding the diagnostic applications of the Novoleukin platform across additional immune-mediated diseases, including viral infection, autoimmune conditions and some cancers, aiming to bring T cell-guided insights to clinical and research settings. About Novoviah Pharmaceuticals Novoviah is a Brisbane-based biotechnology company established in 2020 to develop and supply a new best in-class NovoleukinTM antigen-specific T cell testing platform for clinical trials and explore its broader application in clinical care. Novoviah is committed to advancing sensitive and reliable clinical tests for antigen-specific T cells to support drug developers, researchers, clinicians and patients needing better treatments and diagnosis. Find out more at About WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research) WEHI is where brilliant minds collaborate and innovate to make life-changing scientific discoveries that help people live healthier for longer. Our medical researchers have been serving the community for more than 100 years, making transformative discoveries in cancer, infection and immunity, and lifelong health. WEHI brings together diverse and creative people with different experience and expertise to solve some of the world's most complex health problems. With partners across science, health, government, industry, and philanthropy, we are committed to long-term discovery, collaboration, and translation. At WEHI, we are brighter together. Find out more at View source version on Contacts Novoviah Pharmaceuticalskylieell@ +61413496222 Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Wire
10-06-2025
- Health
- Business Wire
Novel T Cell Measurement System by Novoviah Pharmaceuticals Demonstrates High Accuracy for Clinical Disease Detection and Monitoring of Celiac Disease
BRISBANE, Australia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Novoviah Pharmaceuticals announces that their novel clinical platform technology for detecting and monitoring disease by measuring immune reactivity has been successfully tested in Celiac Disease, with results published in Gastroenterology. "Non-invasively monitoring T cell reactivity opens the door to transformative clinical applications, particularly in drug development." The Novoleukin TM test platform, developed specifically for clinical use, measures T Cell reactivity in fresh whole blood after 24-hour in vitro stimulation with a target antigen. The proprietary technology boosts T Cell activity after blood collection, enabling accurate cytokine biomarker measurement and comparison with unstimulated controls. This can be used to monitor disease reactivity status and the effectiveness of prospective therapeutics. Originally developed for multi-center clinical trials, the Novoleukin TM system has potential for broader clinical use. Its utility and performance were demonstrated in collaboration with WEHI researchers who analyzed blood samples from 181 volunteers to identify the presence and assess the severity of celiac disease. The results show high sensitivity (90%) and specificity (95%) in detecting celiac disease, even in patients following a strict gluten free diet which normally confounds traditional diagnostic methods. The test detects as few as one gluten-specific T lymphocyte in one milliliter of blood or one per million CD4+ T cells. This level of sensitivity in a straightforward blood test is a landmark technical achievement and promises to impact patient care in many fields and accelerate immunotherapy and vaccine development. Associate Professor Jason Tye-Din, Head of WEHI's Celiac Research Laboratory and a gastroenterologist at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, highlighted the test's promise for simplifying diagnosis and removing a significant barrier in current diagnostics. 'By stimulating T cells after a blood draw, patients can avoid the need to return to gluten and the suffering that often comes with that – for the sole purpose of diagnosis. That is a major step towards improving outcomes for patients.' The test was also predictive of patient responses during gluten challenge protocols, underscoring its utility in stratifying patients for clinical research and tailoring therapeutic strategies. Dr Robert Anderson, co-founder of Novoviah Pharmaceuticals, current President of the International Society for the Study of Celiac Disease and a practicing gastroenterologist, said the study highlights the potential of practical, blood-based T cell diagnostics in clinic and for clinical trials. 'The test is designed for ease of use in the clinical setting. It can be prepared without specialist equipment and then sent for highly sensitive laboratory analysis. The protocol is simple and reproducible enabling easy rollout across multiple sites,' Dr Anderson said. The Novoleukin test's ability to detect disease and measure changes in immune response has proven invaluable in the developmental journey for drug developers. 'Non-invasively monitoring T cell reactivity opens the door to transformative clinical applications, particularly in drug development,' Dr Anderson added. 'The platform is already being used by leading biopharma partners to evaluate immune responses during celiac disease clinical trials, offering real-time insights into treatment efficacy.' Novoviah is actively expanding the diagnostic applications of the Novoleukin platform across additional immune-mediated diseases, including viral infection, autoimmune conditions and some cancers, aiming to bring T cell-guided insights to clinical and research settings. About Novoviah Pharmaceuticals Novoviah is a Brisbane-based biotechnology company established in 2020 to develop and supply a new best in-class Novoleukin TM antigen-specific T cell testing platform for clinical trials and explore its broader application in clinical care. Novoviah is committed to advancing sensitive and reliable clinical tests for antigen-specific T cells to support drug developers, researchers, clinicians and patients needing better treatments and diagnosis. Find out more at About WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research) WEHI is where brilliant minds collaborate and innovate to make life-changing scientific discoveries that help people live healthier for longer. Our medical researchers have been serving the community for more than 100 years, making transformative discoveries in cancer, infection and immunity, and lifelong health. WEHI brings together diverse and creative people with different experience and expertise to solve some of the world's most complex health problems. With partners across science, health, government, industry, and philanthropy, we are committed to long-term discovery, collaboration, and translation. At WEHI, we are brighter together.
The Guardian
10-06-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
New blood test for coeliac disease can diagnose autoimmune condition without need to eat gluten
Coeliacs may soon no longer need to eat large amounts of gluten – the very thing suspected of making them sick – to get an accurate diagnosis. Australian research published on Tuesday in the journal Gastroenterology showed a blood test for gluten-specific T cells had a high accuracy in diagnosing coeliac disease, even when no gluten was eaten. Around 1% of people in western countries have coeliac disease, an autoimmune condition in which gluten causes an inflammatory reaction in the small bowel. Currently, every approved method to diagnose it requires people to eat gluten, the paper said. Current testing methods – blood tests or a gastroscopy – require weeks of a person eating gluten, while often enduring symptoms such as diarrhoea, abdominal pain and bloating. Despite the importance of early diagnosis, the researchers said many people are deterred because they do not want to get sick from the tests. More than one in two cases of coeliac disease are either undiagnosed or diagnosed late, prior research has shown. 'There are likely millions of people around the world living with undiagnosed coeliac disease simply because the path to diagnosis is difficult, and at times, debilitating,' said Assoc Prof Jason Tye-Din, a senior author of the paper and head of the Coeliac Research Laboratory at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI) in Melbourne, Australia. The new research could be a 'game-changer', helping address 'one of the biggest deterrents in current diagnostic practices', Tye-Din said. The study evaluated the potential of a blood test to measure an immune marker interleukin 2 (IL-2). In 2019 WEHI researchers discovered that marker spiked in the bloodstream of coeliacs shortly after they ate gluten. Researchers analysed blood samples from 181 volunteers between the ages of 18 and 75 recruited at Royal Melbourne hospital. These included 75 people with coeliac disease who had been on a gluten-free diet for at least a year, 13 with active, untreated coeliac disease, 32 with non-coeliac gluten sensitivity and 61 controls who did not have coeliac disease nor gluten sensitivity. Using a new diagnostic system developed with Novoviah Pharmaceuticals, participant blood samples were mixed with gluten to see if the IL-2 signal appeared. They found the test detected the condition with up to 90% sensitivity and 97% specificity – even in patients following a strict gluten-free diet, the lead author, Olivia Moscatelli, who was diagnosed with coeliac disease at 18, said. Novoviah Pharmaceuticals was an industry partner on the study, but played no role in the execution or interpretation of the research, authors said. The company aims to get the test into clinical use within two years, Tye-Din said. The researchers acknowledged the limitations of the study in that it only involved participants from one centre with relatively small subgroup sizes, and that children and patients on immunosuppressants were not assessed. Several researchers had advisory, directorship and shareholder roles within various pharmaceutical companies declared under conflict of interests. Prof Peter Gibson, a gastroenterologist from Monash University, said further studies were needed, but 'the science is of high quality, the numbers of people tested is large, their underlying conditions well described and the results are very impressive'. 'The test technically is very simple so it can readily be adapted to a routine laboratory test,' Gibson said. He called it a 'genuinely major step forward in the diagnosis of coeliac disease at least in clinically uncertain circumstances'. Assoc Prof Vincent Ho, a gastroenterologist at the Western Sydney University's School of Medicine, said 'the test is very new and it needs to be validated across other laboratories and be cost-effective compared to current tests before it can be used in clinical practice'. Ho noted the study's small sample size and that it would be important the results be replicated in other larger studies in other centres. 'The research … showed that in patients with coeliac disease a single dose of gluten (10 grams or the equivalent of four slices of wheat bread) was able to result in an immune reaction that could be detected on a blood sample in the lab,' Ho said. 'This means in theory that coeliac disease could be diagnosed without the need for weeks of exposure to gluten.' But, Ho said, because the test assesses an immune response to gluten, this means that people on immunosuppressive drugs may not register a reaction.
