This evening, in the contest of the 15th International Congress of Immunology, there will be the award ceremony of the Novartis Prizes for Immunology, which are awarded to those scientists who made groundbreaking contributions to research in immunology.
The Novartis Prize for Immunology 2013 goes to Tim R. Mosmann, from the University of Rochester, and to Robert Coffman, chief scientific officer at Dynavax Technologies.
“Mossmann and Coffman’s discoveries revolutionized our view about how the immune system works, and allowed relevant advancements in the development of therapies for infectious and inflammatory diseases”, explained Dhaval Patel, of the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR) Europe.
In 1986, Mossmann and Coffman found that T helper cells could be divided into two subtypes – Th1 and Th2 – based on the type of cytokines they produce and, as a consequence, on their different functions. Th1 cells help the immune system to trigger a mainly cell-based immune response, which is essential for the resistance to viral and bacterial infections. On the other hand, Th2 cells support a humoral response, typical of allergic diseases. Their study also allowed to understand that disorders in the regulation of Th1 and Th2 cells functions are responsible for several immunological diseases.
The winner of Novartis Prize for Clinical Immunology 2013 is James Allison, from the University of Texas. His research revealed the mechanisms by which cancer cells manage to elude the immune system’s attack. He demonstrated that CTLA-4, an immunoglobulin expressed by T cells, blocks the organism’s immune response.
Such a discovery led to the hypothesis that the development of a molecule able to block CTLA-4 could decrease the immune system’s tolerance against tumors. An efficient treatment against advanced human melanoma, ipilimumab, was raised from an anti-CTLA-4 antibody Allison developed to inhibit tumor growth in mice.
“I admire the view, the motivation and the perseverance that Allison showed when experimenting his approach to immunomodulation in humans, which will have a significant impact on several oncological patients,” said Patel. “His discovery made available not only new tools but also a new perspective on how to fight cancer.”
The Novartis Prizes for Immunology are awarded every three years and have been instituted to pay tribute to advanced research in the most difficult areas of immunology and to encourage synergies between academic and industrial research. Each winner will receive 100 000 Swiss Francs; one fifth of the prize is a personal reward, while the remaining is intended as a support to the winning research.
