Autoimmune and Immune-Mediated Diseases

Overview

The Accelerating Medicines Partnership® (AMP®) program is a public-private partnership between the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and multiple nonprofit and industry organizations. Managed through the Foundation for the NIH (FNIH), the AMP program aims to improve our understanding of therapeutically relevant biological pathways and validate information that could be relevant for the development of multiple therapeutics.

Launched in December 2021, the AMP Autoimmune and Immune-Mediated Diseases (AMP AIM) program seeks to deepen our understanding of the cellular and molecular interactions that lead to inflammation and autoimmune diseases. AMP AIM investigators will focus on rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus), psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, and Sjögren’s disease. The knowledge gained through these studies will advance the development of new and enhanced therapies for autoimmune diseases. In addition, AMP AIM will drive the development of new research tools, data storage platforms, and data sharing technologies.

About Autoimmune and Immune-Mediated Diseases

Autoimmune diseases affect more than 23.5 million Americans. Recent studies suggest that these conditions are becoming more common. In these conditions, the body’s immune responses are so excessive and long-lasting that they can seriously damage numerous tissues and organ systems, which can have a devastating impact on health, well-being, and quality of life.

Need for New Therapies

It is difficult for scientists to develop new treatments and for doctors to care for people with chronic autoimmune diseases because the diseases are highly complex. In addition, each person has a unique genetic make-up, and develops their own immune system over the course of their lives.  Because of these factors, there is no single treatment that would be effective for every person or every autoimmune disease. On the other hand, many autoimmune diseases have similarities—they share common inflammatory pathways, clinical features, and responses to therapies. By identifying and characterizing the molecular and cellular-level pathways and interactions that are shared among many autoimmune conditions—as well as the pathways and interactions that are unique to specific diseases—AMP AIM scientists could open avenues for developing new therapies and diagnostic tools.

AMP Approach

AMP AIM broadens and builds upon a prior AMP investment in rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. This earlier effort, known as the AMP RA/SLE program, focused on understanding the cell types that play a role in rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. AMP AIM will expand this work by studying interactions between different cell types, and will broaden the scope to include psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis and Sjögren’s disease. In addition, AMP AIM will leverage the research infrastructure, datasets, and novel technologies created by AMP RA/SLE.

Governance

Oversight is provided by the AMP Executive Committee and the AMP AIM Steering Committee. Scientific leadership is provided by the AMP AIM Chair and the Network Investigator Committee. Scientific management is provided by the Executive Group of Network Investigator Committee (NIC-EG), Functional Groups (Clinical, Systems Biology, and Technology Groups) and NIH Staff.  

Budget: 5 years ($58.5 Million Total Project Funding)

Total project funding ($M)