Descripción del proyecto
Hacer accesibles los tratamientos con linfocitos T-CAR a más enfermos de cáncer
Los linfocitos T con receptor de antígeno quimérico (T-CAR, por sus siglas en inglés) se modifican a partir de los propios linfocitos T del enfermo, por lo que son armas artificiales contra el cáncer, con un potencial teóricamente infinito. Sin embargo, el coste elevado de los tratamientos con linfocitos T-CAR sigue siendo un factor que impide su aplicación a gran escala en la asistencia sanitaria. El proyecto Lakhesys, financiado con fondos europeos, introducirá un chip microfluídico muy innovador que cambiará profundamente el sector de los linfocitos T-CAR, junto con el equipo necesario para optimizar su uso. Esta herramienta proporcionará un coste de producción significativamente menor, garantizará la mejora de la calidad del tratamiento y permitirá aumentar los volúmenes de tratamiento hasta los niveles necesarios. El sistema innovador de Lakhesys aspira a ofrecer una tecnología europea extraordinaria para los tratamientos que cambian vidas.
Objetivo
Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell therapies (‘CAR-T’) are ushering in an incredibly exciting era of using a patient’s own cells to cure their cancer. The prospect of using a patient’s own cells to cure their disease is theoretically limitless. However, with all of this excitement comes a shadow. The cost of these life-saving treatments is currently so prohibitive that it threatens to put extreme cost-pressure on healthcare providers globally in the years ahead.
Astraveus has developed a highly innovative microfluidic chip that can fundamentally change the CAR-T industry. This chip answers the need to lower production cost (by ~70%), improve treatment quality and allow upscaling of treatment volumes to the required levels. Astraveus has also developed equipment to optimize the use of these microfluidic chips. They have incorporated these technologies into a working prototype of an instrument called ‘Lakhesys’. This instrument allows for automated, standalone, end-to-end production of a CAR-T therapy.
The design, fabrication and validation of the microfluidic innovation is a real breakthrough in the ability to cheaply and accurately produce these treatments. The further step of incorporating these chips into a prototype system demonstrates the huge potential for automating CAR-T production. This phase-2 project will upgrade the supporting modules to turn this working prototype into a launch-ready product. It will also support the validation and industrialisation steps to bring this innovation to market.
The industry is dominated by players in the USA and China (72% of CAR-T institutions are based in these two countries). Astraveus has invented something incredibly unique and a complete step-change versus anything seen on the market. As such, we present an opportunity to support the creation of a homegrown EU business that can challenge the status quo and, more importantly, put these life-saving therapies in the hands of all patients who need them.
Ámbito científico
Palabras clave
Programa(s)
Convocatoria de propuestas
Consulte otros proyectos de esta convocatoriaConvocatoria de subcontratación
H2020-SMEInst-2018-2020-2
Régimen de financiación
SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2Coordinador
75010 Paris
Francia
Organización definida por ella misma como pequeña y mediana empresa (pyme) en el momento de la firma del acuerdo de subvención.