Objective
Inter-individual variability in drug metabolism remains a major barrier to clinical practice and drug development, often leading to adverse reactions, therapeutic inefficacy, and costly trial failures. While genetics explain only part of this variability, the contribution of the gut microbiome remains largely underestimated. The ERC-StG PREDICT-CARE project has shown that dietary (poly)phenols, a large family of plant xenobiotics metabolised through pathways that partly overlap with those involved in the metabolism of several drugs, give rise to reproducible metabolic phenotypes, defined by consistent inter-individual differences in the production of circulating phenolic metabolites and shaped by host genetics and gut microbial activity. These metabolic profiles may therefore represent a functional readout of individual xenobiotic-metabolising capacity and could potentially be used to help predict inter-individual differences in drug metabolism.
XENOPRED will investigate whether these findings can be translated into a multi-omics predictive platform designed to estimate individual drug metabolism profiles by integrating (1) PREDICT-CARE derived metabolic signatures, (2) polygenic risk scores reflecting human enzymatic capacity, and (3) microbiome-derived scores capturing microbial enzymatic potential. It will focus on two clinically relevant phenolic drugs, ibuprofen and paracetamol, to assess the predictive accuracy, feasibility, and
translational potential of this approach. Generalisability will be explored across other phenolic drugs, including irinotecan (cancer), levothyroxine (thyroid), and chlorpromazine (psychosis), for which evidence on colonic metabolism and inter-individual variability remains limited.
The project aims to develop and validate an integration-ready computational module for pharmaceutical R&D workflows and future clinical decision-support tools. By testing a safe, scalable, and cost-effective approach to stratifying individuals according to their metabolic capacity, XENOPRED aims to support safer prescribing, reduce development costs, and accelerate the uptake of personalised health solutions.
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 basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy drug discovery
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine oncology
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology
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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.
43121 PARMA
Italy
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.