Objective Translating intracellular delivery to the marketThe advent of nanotechnology allowed the combination of new chemical and physical tools to engineer carriers able to perform specific functions at the molecular level. In recent years the ERC award ERC-STG-MEViC, helped to develop a powerful new technology called EndoNaut. This can be used to encapsulate and deliver dyes, imaging and contrast agents and drugs. EndoNaut technology consists of pH sensitive polymeric vesicles with the unique characteristics of endosomal delivery whilst maintaining cell viability and metabolic activity. The core technology, is based on the assembly in water of diblock copolymer poly(2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl phosphorylcholine)–poly(2-(di-isopropylamino)ethyl methacrylate) (PMPC–PDPA) into vesicles (also known as polymersomes). These nanoscopic carriers enable the encapsulation of both hydrophilic and hydrophobic compounds including large biological macromolecules. Intracellular delivery is of prime importance for several applications and it can enhance existing therapies as well as allowing new ones. It is not surprising that EndoNaut is now generating significant commercial interest from several our collaborating pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical partners.There are two major areas of application for EndoNaut that offer opportunity for short term commercialisation. The first application is as a reagent in life science research and the second is as screening platform for new chemical entities libraries of pharmaceutical companies with few or no other option to deliver their molecules. The world market for both intracellular reagents and high-throughput screening are predicted to grow yearly by 8-9% generating revenue in the order of billions of USD (PRNewswire). The aim of this project is to form a new company dedicated to the exploitation of EndoNaut technology. The current grant would be enabling in the translation process from laboratory to market. Fields of science medical and health sciencesbasic medicinepharmacology and pharmacypharmaceutical drugsengineering and technologynanotechnology Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme Topic(s) ERC-PoC-2015 - ERC Proof of Concept Grant Call for proposal ERC-2015-PoC See other projects for this call Funding Scheme ERC-POC - Proof of Concept Grant Host institution UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON Net EU contribution € 149 929,00 Address GOWER STREET WC1E 6BT London United Kingdom See on map Region London Inner London — West Camden and City of London Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 149 929,00 Beneficiaries (1) Sort alphabetically Sort by Net EU contribution Expand all Collapse all UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON United Kingdom Net EU contribution € 149 929,00 Address GOWER STREET WC1E 6BT London See on map Region London Inner London — West Camden and City of London Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 149 929,00