Description du projet
Exploiter les nanotechnologies pour traiter les accidents vasculaires cérébraux
L’AVC est un lourd fardeau socio-économique qui touche des millions d’individus dans le monde entier. Il est généralement causé par des caillots sanguins. Les options de traitement actuelles comprennent la dissolution des caillots à l’aide de l’activateur tissulaire du plasminogène (tPA) (thrombolyse) ou l’ablation physique d’un caillot (thrombectomie). Le projet RESOLVE, financé par l’UE, vise à améliorer l’administration et l’efficacité du tPA en l’encapsulant dans des nanoconstructions bien caractérisées. Cette approche présente un profil plus sûr et améliore la circulation et l’activité du médicament thrombolytique. Les chercheurs s’efforcent également d’améliorer le profil de biodégradation et d’excrétion de ces nanoconstructions, ouvrant ainsi la voie à une meilleure stratégie de gestion des accidents vasculaires cérébraux.
Objectif
Acute ischemic strokes result from the occlusion of cerebral vessels by blood clots causing neurological complications, brain damage and death. Based on WHO reports, stroke affects 17M people per year worldwide, with 6M deaths and 5M survivors suffering long-lasting disabilities. Recent statistics estimate an EU direct healthcare cost for stroke of €20B and indirect costs, due to disabilities and lost productivity, of €25B. The two current treatments – thrombolysis and thrombectomy – come with limitations and considerable side effects. Thrombolysis can be safely administered only to a small cohort of patients (about 5%) whereas thrombectomy induces disabilities in 50% of the cases. Moved by the societal, economical, and emotional burden associated with stroke, this proposal aims at developing and validating more effective and less toxic therapies via the combination of the clinically approved molecule tPA and rationally-designed, discoidal polymeric nanoconstructs (DPNs). As compared to tPA, the proposed thrombolytic nano-agents (tPA-DPNs) are expected to provide faster blood clot dissolution; safer administration profile; longer blood circulation and stability. On the technical side, tPA-DPNs will be re-designed to improve their biodegradation and excretion profiles; validated in FDA-recognized stroke models for neurotoxicity and therapeutic efficacy. On the commercial side, a patent portfolio covering the fabrication and utilization of tPA-DPNs will be secured, together with thorough market and business analyses. This will facilitate the interaction with pharmaceutical companies that are investing in the fast growing markets of high-tech drug delivery systems and stroke diagnostics and therapies. tPA-DPNs are expected to alleviate the economic burden on healthcare systems, increase the total sale of thrombolytic agents, revolutionize the medical protocols for stroke management, and diminish the societal and emotional impact of stroke.
Champ scientifique
Programme(s)
Régime de financement
ERC-POC - Proof of Concept GrantInstitution d’accueil
16163 Genova
Italie