Objective
NeckNET is a major clinical development initiative aiming to establish a new standard of care for patients with Head & Neck cancer, one of the most devastating indications with poor prognosis at diagnosis and limited therapeutic options. NeckNET focuses on a specific group with immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI)-secondary resistant and platinum-naïve recurrent/metastatic Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma (R/M HNSCC), a severely underserved population with median survival of only ~12 months. After failure of first-line pembrolizumab, the only approved ICI in this setting, patients face rapid deterioration and poor access to clinical trials, since most active HNSCC studies target earlier lines of therapy or biomarker-selected groups. Thus, there is a critical unmet need for strategies to overcome immunotherapy resistance. NeckNET will evaluate NP137, a first-in-class monoclonal antibody targeting netrin-1, a key driver of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and immune exclusion. By blocking netrin-1 signalling, NP137 restores tumour sensitivity to immunotherapy. NeckNET builds on encouraging results from the exploratory ImmunoNET trial, where NP137 combined with pembrolizumab achieved clinical benefit in 6 of 8 ICI-secondary refractory R/M HNSCC patients, with survival exceeding expectations for this population. Building on this foundation, NeckNET will conduct a multicentre, randomised Phase II trial in ~100 ICI-secondary resistant R/M HNSCC patients who progressed after initial response or ≥6 months disease stabilisation on pembrolizumab. Participants will be randomised to NP137+pembrolizumab versus platinum-based chemotherapy (investigator’s choice). The primary endpoint is overall survival; secondary endpoints include progression-free survival, quality of life, and translational EMT-biomarker analyses. Led by French SME NETRIS Pharma with GORTEC (FR), TTCC (ES) and ULB (BE), NeckNET will deliver a regulator-aligned trial across European centres.
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 clinical medicine oncology skin cancer squamous cell carcinoma
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology head and neck cancer
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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-2025-01
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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.
69008 Lyon
France
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
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.