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- Galvani Bioelectronics, a joint venture between GlaxoSmithKline (GSK +3.6%) and Alphabet’s (GOOG +0.4%) (GOOGL +0.4%) Verily Life Sciences announced that the first patient with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) was treated using its bioelectronics platform.
- The clinical study cleared by the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) got underway last month with the implantation of the first patient in NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde Health Board, Scotland, Galvani said.
- The trial is the first of its kind involving a new type of investigational medicine, designed to stimulate nerves specific or located near the visceral organs, according to the company. Bioelectronics are already used in the brain and spinal cord to treat conditions such as Parkinson’s, epilepsy, and pain. The trial marks a first for the application in a visceral organ.
- The main goal of the study is to assess the safety of the platform in moderate-to-severe RA patients, whose disease advanced despite two or more anti-rheumatic drugs.
- Read: Last year, the FDA updated warnings on Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors, a class of drugs widely used to treat RA.