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Leeds pioneers a wonder drug
LEEDS is to become a nationwide centre of excellence for treating a rare blood disorder.
The city's hospitals have been awarded Government funding to set up a new service to manage Paroxysmal Nocturnal Haemoglobinuria (PNH).
The rare form of anaemia is caused by a gene mutation and means sufferers' bodies destroy red blood cells more quickly than they should, leaving them with severe pain.
There is also a risk of developing potentially fatal blood clots and a need for regular blood transfusions.
Previously the debilitating, chronic condition was untreatable.
But a Leeds expert and his team have helped find and trial a 'wonder' drug which has shown great results in treating the disease.
Eculizumab is so effective that some patients have called it a 'miracle' and others said it changed their lives overnight.
Consultant haematologist Dr Peter Hillmen, based at the new Bexley Wing at St James's Hospital, is the expert on the disease who first came up with the idea of using the drug for PNH and persuaded manufacturers to carry out a trial.
After trials involving Leeds patients showed how effective it was, the drug was licensed and funded for Yorkshire sufferers, which costs about 300,000 a year.
Now the National Commissioning Group has agreed to fund a Leeds-based national service for PNH patients and hospital bosses have given it the go-ahead to be set up in the city.
In a report, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust medical director, Hugo Mascie-Taylor, said: "Professor Hillmen is recognised as an international expert in this disease and receives referrals from across the UK."
And Prof Mascie-Taylor told a meeting of hospital directors: "Because of the presence of a particular individual, Leeds has come to be seen as a centre for this disease."
Service
He said the trust had successfully bid for funding to run the national PNH service, headed by Prof Hillmen.
"This would be a fully-funded national service provided by this trust," Prof Mascie-Taylor said.
A second centre will be based at Kings College London and the service is due to start next April.
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Weather for Leeds
Friday 25 May 2012
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