The Basque company Proteomika, belonging to the Progenika Group specialised in the development of tools for personalised medicine, has developed a new product which offers closer follow-up in patients with chronic inflammatory illnesses. The new kit, known as Promonitor®, provides monitoring and optimisation of treatments with biological drugs in illnesses such as rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn’s disease, ankylosing spondylitis, spondyliarthropathies and ulcerative colitis.

More than 250,000 people in Spain (70% women) have rheumatoid arthritis. While onset is between 25 and 30 years of age, biological treatment usually starts at 50 years of age. Crohn’s disease, on the other hand, affects approximately 100,000 people in Spain; 33% of them are under 20 years old.

The test determines the efficacy of the treatment applied to a patient, by finding out whether they have developed antibodies against a drug and quantifying the amount in the blood. Therefore, specialists in rheumatology and gastroenterology can evaluate more accurately the response and evolution of patients receiving this type of therapy, and change it if proven not efficacious.

At present the evaluation of the evolution and efficacy of treatment is based on subjective markers. The CE trademarked test offers specialists a new objective and specific parameter for detecting failed responses and for preventing possible adverse reactions, thus improving quality of life for the patient. Promonitor® also provides advantages for the health system, by optimising the cost of biological treatments through more rational and objective use.