Objective
Rising antiviral resistance, vaccine hesitancy, and more frequent zoonotic spillovers, amplified by climate change and ecosystem disruption, demand for more and different antiviral solutions. Most licensed influenza antivirals act by inhibiting viral protein functions and can be undermined by resistance. LOFlu_TREAT develops an evolution-resilient approach against epidemic and pandemic influenza A virus (IAV) by modulating the material properties of virus-induced biomolecular condensates, membraneless compartments that support key steps of replication.
IAV is an important human pathogen from the Orthomyxoviridea family. When it infects a cell, it forms specialised condensates, viral inclusions, that coordinate assembly of its segmented genome of eight distinct viral ribonucleoproteins (vRNPs). In ERC CoG LOFlu, we showed that hardening these inclusions blocks infection in vitro and in vivo, with selectivity and no detectable toxicity; yet the only available hardening molecule, the molecular glue called nucleozin, rapidly selected resistant IAV escape mutants.
LOFlu_TREAT addresses the need for more and different antivirals by engineering vRNP-clips, a different scalable class of molecular glues. It also addresses the need to mitigate antiviral resistance emergence by advancing a defined multi-vRNP-clip formulation that raises the barrier to resistance while remaining selectively active in infected cells with an expected reduced toxicity profile, and broadly effective against other members of the Orthomyxoviridae family. As a long-term vision, this condensate-targeting platform could extend to other viral families dependent on condensates, including Pneumoviridae, Rhabdoviridae, Filoviridae, Retroviridae, Paramyxoviridae, and Reoviridae.
By integrating biophysical modulation, experimental evolution, and AI-enabled design, LOFlu_TREAT aims to open a new antiviral modality, accelerate drug innovation, and strengthen Europe’s capacity for infectious disease preparedness and intervention.
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 microbiology virology
- medical and health sciences health sciences infectious diseases
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy pharmaceutical drugs vaccines
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy drug resistance multidrug resistance
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy pharmaceutical drugs antivirals
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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-2026-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.
1649 023 LISBOA
Portugal
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.