Objective
Drug discovery remains one of the most challenging endeavours in modern medicine. Despite decades of investment, approximately 90% of clinical drug candidates fail before reaching patients, with late-stage failures costing billions and delaying effective therapies. A key underlying reason is the inability to reliably determine the full range of proteins a drug engages in living cells, including both intended targets and unintended off-targets. Existing technologies either miss large portions of the proteome, require disruptive sample processing, or measure binding indirectly, leaving drug mechanisms of action incompletely understood and safety liabilities undetected until late in development.
LIVEMAP is a differentiated platform arising from ERC-funded research that enables direct, proteome-scale mapping of drug-binding proteins in intact cells. Existing validation studies demonstrate that the platform can identify both established drug targets and previously unrecognised binding proteins across multiple drug classes, with findings confirmed by orthogonal methods.
This ERC Proof of Concept project will advance LIVEMAP towards an industry-ready platform by automating key workflow steps, defining scalable implementation, and assessing market demand through direct engagement with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, CROs, and other industry partners.
By the end of the project, LIVEMAP is expected to provide a transfer-ready platform, supported by broader application data across relevant use cases and a clear commercialisation pathway, including service-based deployment, licensing, and spin-out formation.
By enabling earlier and more reliable identification of drug targets and off-targets, LIVEMAP has the potential to improve decision-making across drug discovery and development, reduce attrition and associated costs, and accelerate the delivery of safer and more effective medicines.
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
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins proteomics
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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.
69120 Heidelberg
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.