A global consortium, integrating the most important clinical and research centers in Europe, America and Asia dedicated to inflammatory bowel diseases, has just received one of the largest fundings ever for clinical research. The goal is to transform Crohn's Disease from a chronic and incurable condition to one that can be effectively managed, and even potentially prevented and avoided. ‘Changing the future of Crohn’s Disease’ – this is how INTERCEPT, the name given to the project of this consortium of researchers, scientists and doctors from around the world, presents itself. With record funding of around 38 million euros, the project will launch a large-scale observational study and a clinical trial, in which biomarkers will be 'tested' for the early identification of Crohn's Disease and, from there, establish a score at risk for this pathology. The aim is to use a simple blood test to identify individuals at high risk of developing Crohn's Disease and work on preventing and managing the disease at a very early stage. The trial will recruit around 10,000 people, first-degree relatives of individuals with the disease, across seven European countries. Of this group, around 80 people identified as being at higher risk will participate in an innovative therapeutic trial to prevent the full progression of the disease. Joana Torres, a gastroenterologist at Hospital da Luz Lisboa and a specialist in inflammatory bowel diseases, is one of the leaders of INTERCEPT, and is responsible for coordinating the group that, within the consortium, will identify and recruit the 10,000 people who will form the first test phase. Hospital da Luz Learning Health is the Portuguese partner of this consortium, being the national platform for recruiting people for the project. “This project has the potential to transform the way we approach Crohn’s Disease. In recent years, we have seen the publication of data supporting the concept that the disease already exists many years before it is diagnosed, according to the usual clinical criteria, and that it is possible to detect altered inflammatory pathways in the blood of future patients. Thus, the hypothesis is that if we are able to develop biomarkers that allow early diagnosis, we will also be able to intervene early”, explains the specialist, adding: “Currently, around 30 to 40% of patients are diagnosed with irreversible structural damage at the intestinal and about 50% of patients do not respond to available therapies. Intervening early at a stage when there are no symptoms yet, and perhaps severe endoscopic lesions, could represent a unique window of opportunity to modify the course of the disease.” “This project follows many other research projects focused on the preclinical phase and early disease. Despite being a unique challenge, it is also a special project for me, as a researcher, and for Hospital da Luz, as it focuses on one of the important pillars of chronic disease management: early detection and prevention. Furthermore, by studying the inflammatory pathways that precede the onset of the disease, we can aim to detect new therapeutic targets that may lead to the development of better treatments for patients with Crohn's Disease,” concludes Joana Torres. Joana Torres has been involved for several years in some of the most important international research projects on inflammatory bowel diseases, particularly Crohn's disease. She is, for example, one of the researchers in the GlycanTrigger study, in collaboration with Salomé Pinho - a project also with European funding, which aims to test a food supplement in the management of patients with Crohn's Disease after surgery. She is the principal investigator of the CROCO clinical study (CROhn's Disease COhort Study) – an international multicenter study promoted by Hospital da Luz, involving more than 20 hospital centers in Europe, which aims to evaluate the progression of intestinal damage in a prospective cohort of patients with newly diagnosed Crohn's disease. And it had already been funded by the International Organization for the Study of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IOIBD) with a grant of 50 thousand euros to carry out a research project on the influence of certain environmental factors (exposure to metals heavy) in the development of this disease. During her doctorate at the Faculty of Medicine of Lisbon, Joana Torres spent several years working at Mount Sinai Hospital, in New York, USA, where she was part of the research team of Jean-Frédéric Colombel, one of the world's leading clinical and scientific names in the field of Crohn's disease. She is currently a specialist gastroenterologist at Hospital da Luz and an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon, while maintaining her work as a researcher alongside her clinical activity. INTERCEPT is funded by the Innovative Health Initiative Joint Undertaking (IHI JU), has a total budget of more than 38 million euros for the next five years and its results will significantly improve the quality of life of millions of people with Crohn's disease. . Around three million people in Europe alone suffer from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a condition that has been increasingly prevalent in children and young adults. Crohn's disease, one of the most common forms of IBD, is chronic and incurable, causing a significant impact on patients' lives and placing a strain on national healthcare systems. Despite advances in treatments, remission is rare, with almost 50% of patients referred for surgery 10 years after diagnosis. The project brings together 21 partners from Europe, North America and South Korea, enabling collaboration on a global scale that gives strength and sustainability to today's complex scientific challenges and whose format will be an important contribution to advancing research more efficiently. INTERCEPT will be officially launched with a consortium meeting in Berlin, Germany, on February 19, 2025, marking the beginning of a decisive path towards a cure for Crohn's disease on that date.
