Fundraisers smash Â£470k target for Crohn's vaccine

Liz, left, pictured during her 20-mile sponsored walk, with pal Jaqueline Coyle, one of three friends who joined her on the hike from Loch Lomond to Glasgow.

The group, who include East Dunbartonshire woman  Liz Gallacher, collectively raised an incredible £523,000 within three years to ensure the research to help people suffering from the devastating inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) could go ahead.

Liz collected £2,500 for the fund through a 20-mile charity walk in memory of her lawyer husband Billy, who founded Gallacher & Co solicitors at Cowgate in Kirkintilloch. Billy passed away 20 years ago from Crohn’s, complicated by bowel cancer, aged 33.

The total, raised by the ‘Crohn’s MAP Vaccine Heroes’, will fund a  diagnostic blood test running alongside the trials.

Scientist and retired gastroenterologist, Professor John Hermon-Taylor, who has  studied Crohn’s disease for the past 30 years, has developed the vaccine.

He believes people genetically susceptible to the bug mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) go on to  develop Crohn’s disease.

The therapeutic vaccine is aimed at eliminating the bug from the system.

MAP is prevalent in cattle who go on to develop a condition similar to Crohn’s, called Johne’s disease.

Liz said: “Crohn’s disease is often overlooked and the number of people suffering is rising rapidly.

“Scotland now has one of the highest incidences in the world. One in 200 people – mainly young people and  children – are affected.

“Toxic mainstream medications only suppress  the symptoms of the disease and often have nasty side effects.

“This new research is very exciting and if the trials are successful, researchers say the vaccine may be ready within the next couple of years.”

The Crohn’s MAP vaccine has been manufactured at top research university King’s  College in London.

The first phase on healthy people starts this month. Funds are still needed for the second phase, which is due to begin around July.

In the latest guidance to members, Dr AB Hawthorne, Chair of the IBD committee of the British Society of Gastroenterology said: “The BSG  welcomes the ongoing research in this area, including better tests for presence of MAP in blood and tissue, and trials of the vaccine, as it does for all potential aetiological factors in Crohn’s.”

Fundraising began in 2013 when Professor Taylor’s daughter Amy ran a marathon to help her dad’s lifelong quest for a cure.

Find out more at www.crohnsmapvaccine.com.