Next-Generation Drug Discovery Platform for Targeting Cancer Stem Cell Pathways

Información del proyecto

ACHILLEUS

Identificador del acuerdo de subvención: 101058224

DOI

10.3030/101058224

Proyecto cerrado

Fecha de la firma de la CE 5 Abril 2022

Fecha de inicio 1 Noviembre 2022

Fecha de finalización 30 Abril 2026

Financiado con arreglo a

• The European Innovation Council (EIC)

Coste total

€ 2 433 125,00

Aportación de la UE

€ 2 433 125,00

Coordinado por

DEUTSCHES KREBSFORSCHUNGSZENTRUM HEIDELBERG
Germany

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ACHILLEUS (Next-Generation Drug Discovery Platform for Targeting Cancer Stem Cell Pathways)

Período documentado: 2022-11-01 hasta 2023-10-31

Resumen del contexto y de los objetivos generales del proyecto

Colorectal cancer is one of the most frequent cancers with a high burden on society. Hundreds of thousands of people are diagnosed each year with colorectal cancer. Despite available treatments, the survival of patients with advanced-stage colorectal cancer is poor. Stemness of neoplastic cells has been proposed as a major factor in treatment resistance and high relapse rates, however, drugs targeting stem cell signaling pathways in cancer are still lacking today. The EU-funded ACHILLEUS project aims to develop and validate a novel drug discovery platform that involves patient-derived organoids (PDOs) and phenotypic machine learning-assisted validation to identify therapeutics to target colorectal cancer stem cell signaling pathways. Researchers will target colorectal cancer stem cell signaling pathways to shift the balance between stem cells and differentiated cells, using the targeting of the Wnt pathway as a proof of principle. The goal is to create a new company based on a phenotypic drug discovery platform for targeting cancer stem cell signaling.

Trabajo realizado desde el comienzo del proyecto hasta el final del período abarcado por el informe y los principales resultados hasta la fecha

So far, the ACHILLEUS team has developed a novel assay to measure stem cell signaling activity in cultured human cells. In parallel the team optimized the screening platform using patient-derived organoids (PDOs). This comprises both, the work with PDOs in the laboratory and the analysis of complex phenotypic images of PDOs in dedicated data analysis pipelines.

Avances que van más allá del estado de la técnica e impacto potencial esperado (incluida la repercusión socioeconómica y las implicaciones sociales más amplias del proyecto hasta la fecha)

On the business development side, the ACHILLEUS project was presented at several occasions and started to network with relevant groups of people. A business plan was set up and the IP strategy was further refined.