Horizon Therapeutics has entered a multi-year scientific collaboration with Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine to identify new disease targets and develop therapies for patients with serious autoimmune and inflammatory conditions.
The initial focus is the emerging field of immunometabolism, the study of metabolic processes in the body, that when dysregulated, can drive autoimmunity and inflammation. This is the first project in the collaboration, with additional projects to follow.
“Collaboration is essential to move science forward and we are very pleased to begin working with Johns Hopkins University,” said Elizabeth H.Z. Thompson, Ph.D., executive vice president, research and development, Horizon. “By combining Johns Hopkins capabilities in pre-clinical research with Horizon’s expertise in autoimmunity, our teams will advance translational and research efforts to address the unique needs of different patient populations.”
Horizon’s research scientists, in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine experts, aim to identify novel metabolic pathways that lead to chronic inflammation and autoimmunity in different subsets of myositis patients. This deeper pathway knowledge will then be used to identify novel drug targets that may be suitable for discovery of new medicines.
The collaboration comes as Horizon is increasing its presence in Maryland and will be the first tenant at the Alexandria Center at Traville Gateway campus in Rockville, Maryland. When completed, the state-of-the-art facility will support job growth and drive the company’s continued efforts to develop new medicines.
“As Horizon deepens our footprint in the Maryland area, we believe this collaboration will bolster the world-class scientific thinking and technical capabilities that are found in the Maryland life sciences ecosystem,” said Robert Stoffel, Ph.D., vice president, research, Horizon. “Working hand-in-hand with experts at Johns Hopkins University will allow our teams to better understand the biology of diseases we are investigating and identify new pre-clinical targets that could lead to novel therapeutics.”
