European blood disorder project launched

A multi-million pound project is offering hope to patients suffering from life-threatening blood disorders.

The £35m HARMONY project will consist of 51 partners from 11 European countries. It aims to improve management of blood disorder diseases through efficient treatment development and rapid decision making.

Professor Anthony Moorman, from Newcastle University, said: “The key aims of HARMONY are to create a framework for data sharing and promote an ethos of collaboration across the full spectrum of blood cancers. The fact that the scope of the project is broad and encompasses all blood cancers will help clinical research, something that would simply not be possible with the way things currently work.”

HARMONY will focus on

• multiple myeloma
• acute myeloid leukaemia
• acute lymphoblastic leukaemia
• chronic lymphocytic leukaemia
• non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
• myelodysplastic syndromes and
• blood disorders in infants, children and adults.

The project will develop a data sharing platform that empowers experts to improve decision-making by making a platform for analysing complex data and identifying specific markers for effective therapies. It combines members in the clinical, academic, patient, health technology assessment, regulatory, economical, ethical and pharmaceutical fields.

HARMONY began in January and is funded through the Innovative Medicines Initiative, a programme that aims to quicken the development of better and safer medicines for patients.

Professor Moorman said: “The main objectives of this project are to improve patient management and outcome by generating high-quality datasets, which can use sophisticated analytical methods to identify new treatment options.”