Breakthrough test for coeliac disease puts Queensland’s biomedical sector on world map
Breakthrough test for coeliac disease puts Queensland’s biomedical sector on world map
Queensland is well on its way to becoming an Asia-Pacific biomedical industry hub within the next five years thanks to our world-class researchers, life science entrepreneurs and research institutions and their commitment to developing cutting edge technologies, treatments and services.
Our growing biomedical sector now spans diverse specialist fields including generic medicines, medical technology, immunotherapies, vaccine development, complementary medicines/biotherapeutics and the manufacture of biopharmaceuticals.
Queensland is leading the way with a number of exciting biomedical research projects which have attracted worldwide interest, most recently at the BIO International Convention in Boston.
Projects like the development of a highly accurate blood test which has the potential to detect with almost 100 percent certainty, the common autoimmune condition — coeliac disease.
Detecting coeliac disease with a simple blood test
The one in 70 Australians believed to suffer from coeliac disease might soon receive a diagnosis faster.
A Queensland-based biotechnology start-up company, in collaboration with Australian researchers, is developing and planning to commercialise a unique blood test that measures rare T-cells in the immune system which specifically respond to gluten and are the cause of coeliac disease.
While the Novoleukin-C blood test is not yet commercially available, Novoviah Pharmaceuticals co-founder, Dr Robert Anderson, said it was currently being trialled in Australia, North America and Europe to support research into the development of drugs to treat the disease.
Dr Anderson, who was recently elected as the President of the Netherlands-based International Society for the Study of Coeliac Disease, said current screening methods for coeliac disease required patients to undertake a blood test followed by an invasive intestinal biopsy.
“It can be arduous, you take the serology test first, then go under anaesthetic for a biopsy to see if there is damage in the gut,” he explained.
“Before this procedure, you have to eat gluten for 6 weeks which can be very difficult for people who are coeliacs.
“In contrast, our blood test can effectively measure the memory T cells reactive to gluten which are ‘acquired’ when an individual is sensitised to gluten, usually in infancy, and never go away.
“This includes identifying sufferers who may have followed a strict gluten-free diet for many years or those who may have been previously misdiagnosed.
“This means our test has the potential to be much more accurate than existing tests in the market currently.
“Being able to diagnose coeliac disease with confidence would save a lot of time, delays in treatment and ultimately – cost.”
It’s a gamechanger
Dr Anderson divides his time between Mackay where he works as a practising gastroenterologist and Brisbane-based Novoviah Pharmaceuticals, which he co-founded with the company’s Vice President Commercial, David Henderson, in 2020.
As the former managing director of UniQuest, David led the commercial aspects of the University of Queensland’s ground-breaking cervical cancer vaccine Gardasil.
Novoviah’s focus on creating a more accurate diagnostic test to improve the lives of coeliac sufferers reflects Dr Anderson’s 25-year career in research and drug development both here in Australia and overseas.
His efforts were recognised this year with a $25,000 Prize for Excellence in Coeliac Disease Research from the US-based Coeliac Disease Foundation.
He described his work in developing the Novoleukin test as a ‘game changer’ for how other diseases are diagnosed and treated.
“Our initial goal is to make the Novoleukin test available for a wide variety of immune conditions and reactions where rare antigen-specific T cells are present and cause or protect against disease,” Dr Anderson said.
“This includes other autoimmune diseases, allergies, cancers, infections, vaccines or drug reactions including Type 1 diabetes, melanoma and rheumatoid arthritis.
“We see testing for coeliac disease as just the first product to be developed under our diagnostic platform which we hope will detect other diseases and help to target or suppress the part of the immune system which triggers them.”
Support at the BIO International Convention in Boston
As part of the Queensland delegation, Dr Anderson and David, recently attended the BIO International Convention, the world’s largest biotech trade event, where they held meetings with future research and commercial partners to continue to progress the Novoleukin test and its potential applications.
The delegation, which included more than 50 Queensland businesses, was supported by the Queensland Government, including the Department of State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning.
The department’s Queensland Biomedical 10-Year Roadmap and Action Plan and the Queensland new-industry development strategy both set out how the government will help to grow and support the sector, including innovative biomedical enterprises.
Enterprises such as Novoviah Pharmaceuticals.
Treating coeliac disease now and in the future
According to Dr Anderson, with no drugs available to treat coeliac disease, the only available option for sufferers to manage the disease is to follow a strict gluten-free diet.
“Drugs are needed to help people to recover from gluten exposure and the adverse reactions which come from that resulting in injury to the gut,” he said.
He is working with companies and researchers all over the world who are dedicated to changing this status quo by developing drug treatments which they hope will be available within the next 5 – 10 years.
Living with coeliac every day
When Dean Robertson was first diagnosed with coeliac disease in his late 20s his initial reaction was to question whether he had a terminal disease.
Fast forward to 2023, and with greater community awareness, media coverage, websites devoted to the topic and social media chatter, as well as more gluten-free food products in supermarkets, it would be easy to view Dean’s concerns very differently now.
Back in 2008, when Dean first received the news from his GP, there was very little information about the disease or how it could be managed effectively through diet and by carefully monitoring cross contamination via food preparation areas, cookware and utensils.
He said cross-contamination remains a huge concern for people with coeliac disease.
“Having even a crumb of gluten in your diet can make you really sick,” he confirmed.
“I have to be careful when I go to a restaurant or a café. I don’t go to friend’s houses, say for a barbecue, just in case there has been something on the grill with gluten.
“For me, eating gluten can cause vomiting and diarrhoea shortly afterwards.”
Dean said that before learning he had coeliac disease he had been lethargic and tired for about seven months and was suffering from a cold that he just couldn’t shake.
“By this stage I had been showing incremental coeliac disease symptoms for about seven to eight years which would come and go,” he said.
“At times I would be so exhausted after coming home from work, I would go to bed, get up and eat my dinner and then go back to bed.”
Dean said that despite showing symptoms, he would put it down to maybe having a few too many drinks, poor dietary choices or work stress.
“It didn’t hold me back and I would think maybe I shouldn’t have had that hot dog because it didn’t make me feel very well,” he added.
“I was doing all the things that young men my age did and was still enjoying my life.”
Learning a new language
Once he received confirmation that he had coeliac disease and was assured by the GP his condition was manageable, he set about learning how to adjust his diet and lifestyle.
“In the early days it was pretty tough, sometimes I would just go without meals when I was travelling for work because it was easier,” Dean said.
“Even after all these years that does still occur.
“Also, back when I was first diagnosed, there wasn’t much choice in the supermarkets and the labelling wasn’t as detailed as it is now.
“You almost have to learn a new language when you read the labels, sometimes products may be made on production lines which contain gluten items. It is not always apparent.”
Total gluten-free lifestyle
Recently, Dean’s daughter completed the first step towards diagnosis with a serology test indicating coeliac disease.
His younger son is now showing symptoms.
“When I was diagnosed, I had to do the blood test and the biopsy which can make coeliacs very physically sick and lethargic for the six weeks where you have to eat gluten,” he said.
“We have decided not to put my daughter through this biopsy process. Apart from having to undergo an anaesthetic and a biopsy, it would be too difficult for her to have to eat gluten and feel unwell, while trying to manage her school and sports.
“Until there is a simpler option, which would be life changing for families like mine which have a genetic link to coeliac disease, we will follow a totally gluten-free diet.”
Help is at hand for Queensland coeliac sufferers
With research breakthroughs like those being led by Dr Anderson and Novoviah Pharmaceuticals, Queensland is well and truly leading the way to assist sufferers of coeliac disease and other autoimmune conditions, both here in Australia and overseas.
The Queensland Government will continue to provide support for the state’s biomedical sector, its research institutions and talented researchers whose innovative delivery solutions all have the potential to change the world for the better.
You can learn more about the Queensland Government’s support for our biomedical industry in the Queensland Biomedical 10-year Roadmap and Action Plan.
If you would like to learn more about coeliac disease, visit Coeliac Australia
Last updated: 09 Nov 2023