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Abatacept (Orencia®; Bristol-Myers Squibb) did not reduce the number of new gadolinium-enhancing Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) lesions in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis compared to a placebo after 24 weeks.  Results from the Immune Tolerance Network’s ACCLAIM study, led by Samia Khoury, MD (Brigham and Women’s Hospital) were published today in the Multiple Sclerosis Journal.

The Immune Tolerance Network (ITN) opened up a new observational transplant trial, ALLTOL, with the enrollment of its first two participants at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) June 30, 2016. ALLTOL is a prospective cohort study to enroll “operationally tolerant” kidney and liver transplant recipients who have successfully discontinued immunosuppressive medications and continue to have normal function in their transplanted organ. The goal is to collect specimens and follow these individuals to monitor long-term health and understand immune characteristics unique to this rare patient population.

The 12 young liver transplant recipients in the Immune Tolerance Network’s WISP-R Study (Withdrawal of Immunosuppression in Pediatric Liver Transplant Recipients) show no immunological or histological signs of rejection four years after coming off all immunosuppressive medications. The data were published last week in Hepatology.

Better blood glucose control is correlated with C-peptide preservation, a marker of natural insulin production, in individuals with type 1 diabetes who participated in the Immune Tolerance Network’s T1DAL Study [Inducing Remission in New Onset T1DM with Alefacept (Amevive®)]. This secondary analysis of T1DAL data is the first to demonstrate the correlation between insulin preservation and glycemic control in a clinical trial with an immune-targeting drug in type 1 diabetes. The data are published in the June 17^th Diabetes Mellitus Topic Update in Clinical Therapeutics. The T1DAL Study was led by Dr. Mark Rigby (Riley Children’s Hospital, Indiana University, Indianapolis) and conducted by the Immune Tolerance Network (ITN).

Introducing peanut to young infants in the LEAP peanut allergy prevention study did not negatively impact duration of breast feeding, nutritional intake, or growth five years later. The data published last week in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology alleviate potential concerns about whether adding peanut to the diet of this very young population (age 4-11 to 60 months) could have had negative effects on growth and nutrition.

The ITN’s LEAP study won the Society for Clinical Trials David Sackett Trial of the Year Award for 2015. This award goes to a randomized clinical trial published in the previous year that supports substantial change in healthcare, reflects excellent methodology, and overcomes obstacles in implementation. Congratulations to the LEAP team for this recognition!

Two-year data from the ITN’s START Trial (Study of Thymoglobulin to ARest T1D) found that antithymocyte globulin (ATG) did not preserve insulin production in the majority of type 1 diabetes patients, but did show benefit in a subset of older participants. The results were published recently in Diabetalogia.

The Immune Tolerance Network completed enrollment for the PAUSE psoriasis study with 108 participants. Led by Dr. James Krueger at the Rockefeller University, the PAUSE Study is testing the combination of two biologics, ustekinumab (Janssen Biotech, Inc.) and abatacept (Bristol-Myers Squibb), in psoriasis patients. The goal of the PAUSE study is to determine whether the sequential combination of ustekinumab and abatacept in psoriasis will produce changes in the immune system that will lead to durable disease remission.

The Immune Tolerance Network’s (ITN) LEAP-ON clinical trial has found that peanut allergy prevention achieved from early peanut consumption in at-risk infants persists after a one-year period of avoiding peanut. LEAP-ON (Persistence of Oral Tolerance to Peanut) was led by Dr. Gideon Lack from Kings College London and the results were published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The ITN’s LEAP and HALT-MS trials were two of the 15 highlighted topics in NIAID’s selected research advances for 2015.  In his opening remarks, NIAID Director Tony Fauci explains that this selection includes “notable scientific advances made by NIAID researchers and NIAID-funded scientists” and “are representative of how public investment in biomedical research drives scientific progress and benefits human health.”