Project description
RNA therapeutics for cardiometabolic diseases
Cardiometabolic diseases include diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Although these diseases frequently co-exist in patients, interventions have yet to be designed against their common targets and shared pathways. The EU-funded LiverTarget project brings together worldwide experts in the field to develop and test innovative therapies against such cardiometabolic diseases. Researchers will focus on ribonucleic acid (RNA) therapeutics such as small interfering RNA to silence the expression of inflammatory genes in the liver. These RNA molecules will be complexed with lipid nanoparticles for effective delivery to the liver, tested in preclinical mouse models for efficacy, and the lead candidates evaluated.
Objective
RNA Therapeutics comprise a new rapidly expanding category of drugs including small interfering RNAs (siRNA) and messenger RNAs (mRNA) that have attracted tremendous interest recently due to their first in-class drug approvals and notable success of the mRNA vaccines in the clinic.
Obesity, diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD), in turn, are highly prevalent devastating diseases of our times despite available medicines, accounting for more than one in two deaths worldwide. They frequently co-exist, in the same patient, and constitute independent risk factors for each other; yet, unified approaches directed against common targets and shared mechanisms are lacking.
LiverTarget aims at exploiting Partners years of research in the field of cardiometabolic research, the identification of ceramide pathways and inflammatory targets, and the development of novel siRNA technologies and lipid formulations, to:
1. Generate innovative siRNA pools and synthetic mRNAs to regulate ceramide and inflammatory targets in the liver.
2. Formulate them in established human-approved liver-targeting lipid nanoparticles (LNP).
3. Determine their efficacy in vivo in preclinical mouse models of obesity, diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and atherosclerosis.
4. Complete the necessary safety and toxicology evaluation of the most promising lead candidates and prepare the preclinical evaluation dossier for the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
This will result in a set of novel RNA-LNP formulations, directed against targets shared between ASCVD, diabetes and NAFLD, with demonstrated efficacy and toxicology, ready for further clinical development. It will also open up new directions of research towards the development innovative RNA therapeutics against liver targets for the treatment of cardiometabolic diseases, ultimately benefiting the patient, the society and the economy.
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: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine cardiology cardiovascular diseases arteriosclerosis
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine endocrinology diabetes
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics RNA
- medical and health sciences basic medicine toxicology
- medical and health sciences health sciences nutrition obesity
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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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HORIZON.2.1 - Health
MAIN PROGRAMME
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HORIZON.2.1.5 - Tools, Technologies and Digital Solutions for Health and Care, including personalised medicine
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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.
HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions
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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) HORIZON-HLTH-2021-TOOL-06
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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.
33100 TAMPERE
Finland
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.