Project description
Repurposing a leukaemia drug against heart failure
Acute myocardial infarction (MI) causes left ventricular dysfunction and heart failure in nearly 50 % of patients. Following extensive preclinical testing, the EU-funded RITA-MI 2 project aims to repurpose an existing drug, rituximab, currently employed for lymphoid malignancies and autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis. Rituximab is a monoclonal antibody that selectively targets mature B lymphocytes expressing CD20. The rationale is to stop or limit the deleterious cardiac remodelling that takes place after MI and improve heart function recovery. RITA-MI 2 will assess the impact of B lymphocyte depletion in patients with MI in a phase 2b clinical trial.
Objective
RITA-MI 2 will assess the impact of a novel therapeutic strategy targeting patients’ immune response on the recovery of heart function after myocardial infarction (MI) in a phase 2 clinical trial.
Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) represent a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Despite important advances in the treatment of acute MI, the occurrence of MI still results in left ventricular dysfunction in up to 50% of patients, which leads to the development of heart failure. Left ventricular dysfunction is the strongest predictor of adverse outcome after acute MI, and is associated with a 3 to 4-fold increase in mortality risk. In Westernised countries, heart failure is responsible for 1-2% of all health expenditure, which is mostly driven by repeated hospital admissions. Therefore, there is a considerable need for new therapies to limit the burden of CVD.
This application builds on a ground-breaking discovery by a unique team of clinicians and scientists who provided extensive validation for their findings through a series of basic, pre-clinical and translational research. Our goal is to translate this discovery into benefit for patients. The new therapy is based on selective targeting of a specific immune cell subset, mature B lymphocytes, with the aim to limit deleterious cardiac remodelling and improve heart function recovery post-MI. Of note, the drug that targets this pathway, i.e. CD20 monoclonal antibody (mAb) rituximab, is available for testing in a re-purposing scheme, allowing for rapid initiation of proof-of-concept clinical trials. The PIs of the present proposal have successfully completed a phase 1/2a clinical trial (RITA-MI, NCT03072199), which established the safety of rituximab treatment at the acute phase of MI.
RITA-MI 2 will conduct a phase 2b randomised double-blind placebo-controlled CT to assess the impact of B cell depletion with the CD20 mAb rituximab on left ventricular dysfunction and cardiac remodelling after acute MI.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.3.1. - SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Health, demographic change and well-being
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.3.1.3. - Treating and managing disease
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
RIA - Research and Innovation action
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-SC1-BHC-2018-2020
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
75654 Paris
France
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.