Project description
Gene therapy for debilitating facial pain
Trigeminal neuralgia is a known severe pain condition causing sudden, intense electric shock-like facial pain and affects around one million people in Europe. Current treatments provide incomplete relief and often carry significant side effects. Addressing the underlying cause ,which is abnormal hyperactivity of pain-sensing neurons, rather than managing symptoms represents a compelling therapeutic goal. The ERC-funded TREAT project proposes to develop a gene therapy that delivers an engineered potassium channel to pain-sensing neurons. This channel can be activated non-invasively using mild local heating from a near-infrared lamp and restore normal neuronal excitability. This approach is expected to silence pathological pain signals at their source.
Objective
TREAT introduces the first gene therapy specifically designed to target trigeminal neuralgia, a debilitating neuropathic pain disorder characterised by sudden, severe, and electric shock-like or stabbing facial pain that affects about 1 million people in Europe. TREAT directly targets the pathophysiological mechanism, nociceptor hyperexcitability, providing a durable and potentially disease-ameliorating therapy that addresses the cause of pain, neuronal hyperexcitability, rather than merely managing symptoms. The therapeutic core of the approach is the Temperature-Induced Channel K⁺ (TICK), engineered for external control by means of a near-infrared (NIR) lamp. The therapy employs an rAAV vector system engineered to deliver the TICK gene selectively to nociceptors. Activation is non-invasive and patient-controlled: local heating from 37°C to max 40°C, triggers channel opening at the level of the peripheral nerve. Potassium-induced hyperpolarisation suppresses pathological firing of the damaged neurons and prevents transmission of pain to the central nervous system. Importantly, this therapy restores physiological excitability rather than blocking neuronal function, which not only represents a built-in safety feature but also a possible repair mechanism for injured neurons. The TREAT project is structured around two parallel and interdependent objectives: technical validation and business planning. Our milestone-driven approach, executed in collaboration with our strategic partner Day One, will de-risk the technology and establish the foundation for a future spin-off company stemming from UniMi. If successful, TREAT has the potential to redefine the treatment landscape for neuropathic pain.
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 biological sciences neurobiology
- medical and health sciences medical biotechnology genetic engineering gene therapy
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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)
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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
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-2025-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.
20122 Milano
Italy
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