Project description
Drug delivery across the blood-brain barrier
Treating central nervous system (CNS) diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and brain cancer is hindered by the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which prevents over 95 % of drug candidates from effectively reaching the brain. The EU-funded NAP4DIVE project is addressing this challenge by developing advanced, non-animal alternatives for testing nanoparticle (NP)-based drug delivery across the BBB. The project will create two complementary tools: a high-throughput BBB-on-Chip and a machine learning-based NP design simulator. These tools will identify the most promising nanoparticle designs, reducing animal testing by up to 95 % and cutting costs by 30 %. NAP4DIVE offers a sustainable solution for more efficient CNS drug development and new, effective treatments for millions.
Objective
The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a major obstacle in treating diseases of the central nervous system (CNS) such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, Schizophrenia and brain cancer, affecting 180 million Europeans with less than 5% of current candidate drugs effectively reaching the brain. NAP4DIVE strives to revolutionize the traditionally expensive and inefficient drug development for these diseases by establishing advanced non-animal alternatives for testing and predicting nanoparticle (NP)-based drug delivery across the human BBB. This approach aligns with EU and global initiatives to reduce animal testing and advance human-based biomedical research models. The project will develop two complementary non-animal tools: a high-throughput BBB-on-Chip and an in silico model based on machine-learning (“NP Design Simulator”). A digital repository of optimized nanoparticle designs “NP Design Library” will be created to gather publicly available and newly obtained NP characterisation data, specialised for BBB delivery. The Design simulator screens thousands of NP designs to recommend the most promising ones, which will be tested in vitro on the microfluidic BBB-on-Chip with real-time measurement of barrier integrity. The accuracy and physiological relevance of both tools will be validated by the pharmaceutical partner through comparison with clinical and pre-clinical data. NAP4DIVE tools will reduce animal use in CNS drug development by up to 95% while saving 30 % of costs. By identifying nanoparticles for cross-BBB drug delivery and offering avenues for new effective treatment options, NAP4DIVE addresses one of the most pressing healthcare challenges of the century. A comprehensive HTA will demonstrate market readiness and cost-effectiveness of the tools, an ethical assessment will analyse harm reduction and engagement with regulators and policy makers will promote non-animal alternatives in preclinical testing on a larger scale.
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 basic medicine neurology dementia alzheimer
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology
- engineering and technology nanotechnology nano-materials
- medical and health sciences basic medicine neurology parkinson
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine psychiatry schizophrenia
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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-2024-TOOL-05-two-stage
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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.
20500 ABO
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.