Project description
Tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes to enhance immunotherapy
Modern oncology has not solved the challenge of treating solid tumours with existing immunotherapies. The EU-funded Repro-TIL project aims to change this. It will develop a first-in-class platform to transform how we use tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs). Unlike conventional TIL therapies, which are unselective and prone to T-cell exhaustion, Repro-TIL reprogrammes cancer cells into conventional type 1 dendritic cells. The goal is to ensure that the resulting therapy is more potent. The project focuses on preclinical validation and regulatory pathways to bring this technology to the clinic. It sets the stage for high-performance treatments for melanoma and solid tumours, improving survival rates and outcomes.
Objective
Solid tumors present a significant challenge in oncology due to the limited efficacy of current therapies and resistance to immunotherapies like checkpoint inhibitors. While adoptive cell transfer (ACT) using Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes (TIL) has shown promise in immunogenic tumors like melanoma, broader success has been hindered by inefficient TIL expansion, T-cell exhaustion, and low tumor reactivity (<0.5% tumor-reactive clones in TIL products). These limitations result in inconsistent outcomes and slow clinical adoption.
The Repro-TIL project aims to address these challenges by establishing a first-in-class platform designed to selectively expand neoantigen-specific, tumor-reactive TILs. The project builds on the ERC POC project 'NeoIDC,' which introduced a novel method for reprogramming cancer cells into antigen-presenting conventional type 1 dendritic cells (cDC1s), leading to tumor-reactive T cell priming. Repro-TIL approach enhances the production of highly tumor-specific TILs, offering a more effective immunotherapy for solid tumor patients. Repro-TIL will focus on completing preclinical validation and CTA-enabling studies to reach TRL6. The project will optimize the platform for TIL expansion, identify biomarkers of TIL potency, develop a GMP-compliant manufacturing process, and establish regulatory and commercial pathways for future clinical trials and market entry.
The project’s multidisciplinary consortium brings together expertise in translational immunotherapy, ACT manufacturing, regulatory strategy, and business development. This combination ensures successful project implementation and lays the groundwork for commercialization. By its conclusion, Repro-TIL will be positioned as a superior ACT solution, with the potential to significantly improve treatment outcomes in melanoma and hard-to-treat solid tumors such as sarcoma and breast cancer. This scalable, cost-effective platform could set the stage for a new era of personalized cancer therapies.
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.
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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.3.1 - The European Innovation Council (EIC)
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Topic(s)
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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
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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.
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Call for proposal
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-EIC-2024-TRANSITION-01
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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.
223 81 Lund
Sweden
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
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