Objective The clinical use and effect of most conventional therapies (e.g. for cancer) are limited, either due to insufficient accumulation of the drug in the target tissue or its severe toxic effects on healthy tissues. Consequently, many treatments are not achieving their full effect and many other highly promising compounds never make it to the market. A promising approach to address this issue of bioavailability is the design and development of nanocarriers. These nanocarriers need to provide stable protection of the compound in the blood stream while they should release the compound at the targeted tissue. Currently, there are no nanocarriers available that effectively address this challenging trade-off.We have constructed nanocontainers (NCs) that show high promise to address this issue. Our NCs are engineered from biocompatible and biodegradable polymers and are unique in their stability and resistance to drug leakage in the circulation, while they exert conformational changes under specific conditions targeting at the pathological tissue, inducing localised drug release. This technology leverages the fact that tumours (as well as other types of diseased tissue) are known to have specific extracellular environments with lower pH, higher temperature and enhanced glutathione levels compared to healthy tissues. Our NCs integrate four stimuli, namely pH, temperature (T), reducing environments (glutathione) and alternating magnetic fields. With the PoC grant we aim at obtaining in vivo evidence of the functional added value of our proprietary NCs for the delivery of anti-tumour and antibacterial drugs. Furthermore, we aim to strengthen our IP position and develop a business plan thatdescribes theoptimal route-to-market for our technology. Fields of science natural scienceschemical sciencespolymer sciencesmedical and health sciencesclinical medicineoncology Programme(s) FP7-IDEAS-ERC - Specific programme: "Ideas" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013) Topic(s) ERC-OA-2013-PoC - European Research Council ERC Proof of Concept Call for proposal ERC-2013-PoC See other projects for this call Funding Scheme CSA-SA(POC) - Supporting action (Proof of Concept) Host institution "NATIONAL CENTER FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ""DEMOKRITOS""" EU contribution € 150 000,00 Address END OF PATRIARCHOU GRIGORIOU E AND 27 NEAPOLEOS STREET 15341 Agia Paraskevi Greece See on map Region Αττική Aττική Βόρειος Τομέας Αθηνών Activity type Research Organisations Administrative Contact Marina Fontara (Ms.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data Beneficiaries (1) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all "NATIONAL CENTER FOR SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH ""DEMOKRITOS""" Greece EU contribution € 150 000,00 Address END OF PATRIARCHOU GRIGORIOU E AND 27 NEAPOLEOS STREET 15341 Agia Paraskevi See on map Region Αττική Aττική Βόρειος Τομέας Αθηνών Activity type Research Organisations Administrative Contact Marina Fontara (Ms.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data
