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Companion Nanodiagnostics for Quantifying EPR and Stratifying Patients to Targeted Nanotherapies

Objective

CONQUEST aims to commercialise a first-of-its-kind platform technology for imaging a biological effect – i.e. the EPR effect – that is predictive for a cancer patient's response to tumor-targeted nanomedicine (NM) therapy. CONQUEST thereby addresses a key issue in the (nano)pharmaceutical industry; as currently large proportions of cancer patients do not respond to NM, while others show major improvements in terms of response rates, survival times and quality of life. This trend impairs the outcome of clinical studies and results in many patients receiving treatments that are not effective to them. It would therefore be highly desirable to stratify responders from non-responders prior to study entry or treatment. CONQUEST stands at the basis of introducing a solution to this problem in the pharmaceutical industry.
Prof. Lammers and colleagues, as part of ERC-funded research, have developed a powerful imaging approach that allows to construct an EPR profile of each individual tumour - by the administration and non-invasive imaging of contrast agent-labelled nanocarriers (drug-loaded or empty) that accumulate in tumours through EPR. The general idea is that patients with a low degree of EPR, and therefore unlikely to respond to such treatments, can be excluded from NM treatment and referred to alternative established or experimental interventions. Vice versa, patients with a high level of EPR can likely be treated relatively efficiently.
Recognising the commercial potential of this technology, CONQUEST aims to tailor the technique and protocol for application in humans, by tuning the method for imaging with PET-MRI. A successful demonstration of PET-MRI-based EPR imaging will trigger large interest of the pharmaceutical and diagnostics industry, to invest in further clinical (co-) development.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

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.

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.

ERC-POC - Proof of Concept Grant

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) ERC-2015-PoC

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Host institution

UNIVERSITAETSKLINIKUM AACHEN
Net EU contribution

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.

€ 145 312,00
Address
Pauwelsstrasse 30
52074 Aachen
Germany

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Region
Nordrhein-Westfalen Köln Städteregion Aachen
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost

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.

€ 145 312,00

Beneficiaries (1)

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