Objective
Adoptive cell therapies harness the power of our immune system to treat and even cure severe diseases from cancer via infections to autoimmunity. These emerging therapies use engineered lymphocytes to fight disease-causing cells in patients and major progress has been achieved in the treatment of blood cancers. In contrast, solid tumors remain notoriously difficult to treat with adoptive cell therapies. Very often, this is due to the strongly immunosuppressive microenvironment of solid cancers, limiting the effectiveness of cell therapies.
Cytokines with their potent immunoregulatory functions can alleviate these challenges. A paradigm for this is interleukin 12 (IL-12). IL-12 has strong immune-activating properties, increases antigen presentation, and inhibits or reprograms otherwise immunosuppressive cells in the tumor microenvironment. Despite this ideal signature, IL-12 has fallen short of its promises in the clinics – mainly due to dose-limiting toxicity. Maintaining a maximum IL-12 concentration at desired sites of action while concurrently keeping the systemic level low is thus a major dilemma when it comes to using IL-12 in the clinics.
We have developed a self-deactivating IL-12 that is only active at the site of production and release, e.g. from CAR T cells. As such, it makes the desired properties of IL-12 available at relevant sites while avoiding systemic effects. Building on strong preliminary data and a team with complementary expertise, this project will i) provide in vivo Proof of Concept data ii) secure the IP for the locally active IL-12 and iii) take major steps towards commercialization of the technology.
Our platform technology will make adoptive cell therapies for solid tumors more effective while maintaining their safety. Further applications lie in virus- and nucleic acid-based therapeutic approaches thus making this technology highly attractive to companies developing different modalities in the space of next generation immunotherapy.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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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.
80333 Muenchen
Germany
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.