Objective
Antibodies have become major players in the pharmaceutical industry and were valued at 0.16 US billion in 2023. Traditionally, antibodies are obtained after immunisation of different animals and then produced in relevant cells for use in research, diagnostics and therapy. In recent years, there is a growing public opinion in Europe to ban the use of animals for biomedical research, and therefore there is an increasing pressure to move from animal produced antibodies to design and produce them in vitro. Antibody engineering has another important advantage, which is the possibility of targeting a precise epitope and not rely on serendipity as when injecting an animal with an antigen. In recent years, there have been significant advances in protein design based on the use of artificial intelligence and precise force fields. Despite this, the majority of the companies that work on antibody design combine rational engineering with massive proprietary screening methods, and so far, there are no reported cases of fully de novo design of an antibody with nM affinity against a defined epitope. Using an interleukin receptor as a case study, we have shown that we can indeed fully design de novo a nanobody that recognizes the target with nM affinity, using our proprietary protein design software FoldX and ModelX. Experts consulted to date indicate that the results obtained so far are truly impressive, prompting us to continue validating and optimising our process. Our proposal has two main objectives: First, to fully automate our pipeline that involves epitope selection, antibody framework selection and docking, backbone move and side chain search. Second, demonstrate that our optimised pipeline can design fully de novo nanobodies against a defined target in a fast and cost-effective way. Success in both objectives will open the way to fully de novo antibodies with desired properties, and position ourselves in the search for funding and spin-off incorporation.
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.
- natural sciences computer and information sciences software
- medical and health sciences basic medicine immunology immunisation
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
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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.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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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-ERC-POC - HORIZON ERC Proof of Concept Grants
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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) ERC-2024-POC
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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.
08003 Barcelona
Spain
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.