Project description
Revolutionary cell device to herald a medical revolution
Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are capable of maturing into any human cell they want and can be transplanted without getting rejected. They facilitate the development of a limitless source of any type of human cell required for therapeutic purposes. For this reason, iPSCs show much promise in treating and curing a broad range of health issues. However, existing methods are holding back this enormous potential. The EIC-funded AiPSC project aims to develop a cost-efficient, rapid, and standardised AI-based microfluidic device to mass produce personalised iPSCs for adoptive cancer immunotherapies, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation and tissue regeneration. It will also perform leading-edge single cell genomics and bioinformatics research on iPSCs.
Objective
Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSCs) can be differentiated into any cell type of the body and transplanted without rejection. The potential of iPSCs to cure health problems including degenerative diseases, cancer, cancer therapy associated disease and defective tissues, is unprecedented in history. However, the current methodologies prohibit standardized production of person's own (autologous) iPSCs, hence rejection is taking place and the therapeutic promise is not fulfilled. Our consortium seeks to develop a new technology that will enable the mass production of personalized iPSCs for autologous adoptive cancer immunotherapies, hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, and tissue regeneration.
The consortium will for the first time create an artificial intelligence (AI) guided microfluidic device that standardizes the GMP production of autologous iPSCs fast and at a fraction of the current cost. Moreover, it will conduct cutting-edge single cell genomics and bioinformatics research of iPSC to identify clones of highest quality, and develop a database that will be the basis for AI software to select clones that meet clinical standards. The consortium comprises of experts in microfluidics engineering process automation for cell therapies, stem cell molecular biology and bioinformatics, GMP production, and AI modelling. The participating companies, startups, and universities are amongst the leading in Europe, and will promote the positions of female and early career participants from developed and developing European countries. The consortium aims to reach TRL3 prototype stage, and have created a concrete exploitation plan to develop the technology further for implementation in cancer therapy and regenerative medicine. Altogether, we propose to create revolutionary technology for low cost, fast, and standardized automated mass production of autologous iPSCs, which holds the potential to enable numerous new therapies and making them accessible to the public.
Fields of science
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesclassical mechanicsfluid mechanicsmicrofluidics
- medical and health sciencesmedical biotechnologycells technologiesstem cells
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicineoncology
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicineimmunologyimmunotherapy
- medical and health sciencesclinical medicinetransplantation
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.3.1 - The European Innovation Council (EIC) Main Programme
Topic(s)
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-AG - HORIZON Action Grant Budget-BasedCoordinator
2333 CK LEIDEN
Netherlands