Method of treatment by the administration of inhibitors of GM-CSF and IL-17

1. A method for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis in a subject suffering therefrom, the method comprising administering to said subject an effective amount of

(a) an antibody or a fragment thereof that binds to GM-CSF or GM-CSF receptor and inhibits or prevents the binding of GM-CSF to the GM-CSF receptor; and

(b) an antibody or a fragment thereof that binds to IL-17 or IL-17 receptor and inhibits or prevents the binding of IL-17 to the IL-17 receptor.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein

(a) the antibody or fragment thereof that binds to GM-CSF or GM-CSF receptor is administered prior to the antibody or fragment thereof that binds to IL-17 or IL-17 receptor;

(b) the antibody or fragment thereof that binds to GM-CSF or GM-CSF receptor is administered subsequent to the antibody or fragment thereof that binds to IL-17 or IL-17 receptor; or

(c) the antibody or fragment thereof that binds to GM-CSF or GM-CSF receptor and the antibody or fragment thereof that binds to IL-17 or IL-17 receptor are administered simultaneously.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the subject is a human or a non-human primate.

4. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the antibody or the fragment thereof that binds to GM-CSF or GM-CSF receptor is an antibody or fragment thereof that binds to an epitope of GM-CSF, the epitope comprising amino acids 23-27 (RRLLN) of SEQ ID NO: 57, 58, 59 or 60 and/or amino acids 65-77 (GLR/QGSLTKLKGPL) of SEQ ID NO: 57, 58, 59 or 60.

5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein said epitope further comprises:

(a) amino acids 28-31 (LSRD) of SEQ ID NO: 57, 58, 59 or 60;

(b) amino acids 32-33 (TA) of SEQ ID NO: 57, 58, 59 or 60; and/or

(c) amino acids 21-22 (EA) of SEQ ID NO: 57, 58, 59 or 60.

6. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the antibody or fragment thereof that binds to GM-CSF is a human monoclonal antibody or a fragment thereof.

7. The method according to claim 6 , wherein said antibody or fragment thereof comprises in its light chain variable region a CDR1 comprising an amino acid sequence as set out in SEQ ID NO: 16, a CDR2 comprising an amino acid sequence as set out in SEQ ID NO: 17 and a CDR3 comprising an amino acid sequence as set out in SEQ ID NO: 18; and comprises in its heavy chain variable region a CDR1 region comprising an amino acid sequence as set out in SEQ ID NO: 14, a CDR2 region comprising an amino acid sequence as set out in SEQ ID NO: 15 and a CDR3 comprising an amino acid sequence as set out in SEQ ID NO: 2.

8. The method according to claim 7 , wherein said antibody or fragment thereof comprises in its light chain variable region an amino acid sequence as set out in any of SEQ ID NO: 19, 54 and 55.

9. The method according to claim 7 , wherein said antibody or fragment thereof comprises in its heavy chain variable region an amino acid sequence as set out in any of SEQ ID NO: 21 or 52.

10. The method according to claim 7 , wherein said antibody or fragment thereof comprises in its light chain variable region an amino acid sequence as set out in SEQ ID NO: 19 and in its heavy chain variable region an amino acid sequence as set out in SEQ ID NO: 21.

11. The method according to claim 7 , wherein said antibody or fragment thereof comprises a light chain amino acid sequence as set out in SEQ ID NO: 34 and a heavy chain amino acid sequence as set out in SEQ ID NO: 35.

12. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the antibody or fragment thereof that binds to IL-17 is a human monoclonal antibody or a fragment thereof.