An integrated approach to restore tolerance in autoimmune disease

The TOLERATE training network aims at training DC’s to acquire the skills to develop different innovative strategies to treat autoimmune diseases, to identify the most promising strategies or a combination of strategies, to setup clinical trials and to develop a roadmap to bring a novel therapeutic agent to the market. This all will be done in a highly interdisciplinary and intersectoral environment. Interdisciplinarity allows to introduce innovative tolerogenic therapies developed for cancer, Chimer Antigen Receptor (CAR)-T cell therapies, into the world of autoimmune disease and to apply nanotechnology and protein-engineered tolerogenic vaccines to re-establish immune tolerance in autoimmune disease. Both the presence of academia and industry provides a platform for in-depth preclinical studies and a realistic possibility for future commercialization of the novel therapies. Clinicians in the consortium with expertise in setting-up and running clinical trials for novel drugs assure that developed novel therapies in TOLERATE will find their way to the clinic in the future. Developing novel therapies for autoimmune diseases goes close together with a thorough knowledge on the long-term consequences of living with an autoimmune disease. Since many autoimmune diseases are rare diseases, setting up international uniform databases and biobanks is crucial to understand the long-term pathophysiology of the disease and to guarantee optimal use of (novel) therapies. TOLERATE will train 8 DCs who will hence has the expertise and skills to work in and setup interdisciplinary and intersectoral projects. The ground-breaking training programme will provide the DC’s with a unique clinical training. Additional training in ethical, regulatory and legal aspects together with a training in innovation management of therapeutics and diagnostics for autoimmune diseases will prepare the DCs for the European job market.