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Pharmaleads is a Scientific participant to and Project Manager of the European project “Fighting Aneurysmal Disease” (FAD, http://www.fighting-aneurysm.org), a four year large-scale integrated FP7 Health project, involving 15 partners of 12 nations, including three pharmaceutical companies, an Icelandic and a Turkish partners.
This 15 €M project has begun the 1st of July, 2008, thanks to a contribution from the European Community amounting up to 11 €M, in order to boost the research and development against aneurysm.
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FAD’s agenda is to investigate mechanisms involved in the progression of aortic aneurysms. FAD addresses both thoracic and abdominal aneurysms. Abdominal aorta aneurysm is a frequent aortic disease presenting specific form of atherothrombosis.
Aneurysms of the ascending aorta are less frequent and have various causes, including genetic forms (Marfan syndrome) associating with bicuspid aortic valves and degenerative forms.
FAD is a translational project organised around seven tasks:
 Task 1: intra-EU implementation of a human aneurysm database,
Tasks 2 and 3: increasing knowledge on basic science, using genomic and pathophysiological approaches,
Tasks 4 and 5: diagnostic and therapeutic applications,
Task 6: training, dissemination and communication
Task 7: project management.
Pharmaleads is doubly implicated in the project. Pharmaleads is in charge of scientific work for task 4 “Diagnosis” and is team leader of the task 7 for the administrative and financial management of the project.
Prospects opened by FAD for health improvement in the EU are of major importance. Aneurysms of the ascending aorta are a spontaneous degeneration of the vascular wall, sharing aetiologies with aortic dissections. They offer a unique opportunity to explore modifications of cells structure and function in response to chronic stress from genetic and/or environmental origin. Aneurysms of the abdominal aorta are a spatio-temporal relevant form of atherothrombotic disease in human beings. It opens promising avenues in understanding the nature of atherothrombotic disease, the leading cause of death in the EU, and creates an innovative rupture with regard to diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Therefore, this program, or a new derived program, should obtain renewed financial support from the EU, after completion of the current FAD project in June 2012.
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