Project description
Vaginal invaders may have met their match
We hear a lot these days about the gut microbiome: all the fungi, bacteria, viruses and protozoa and their genetic material in the gastrointestinal tract. While we know how important the gut microbiome is to sickness and health, the vagina has its own community of microorganisms, and once again, imbalance and invasion can wreak havoc. Bacterial vaginosis (BV) and vulvovaginal candidiasis (VCC) are caused by bacteria and fungi, respectively. They are common conditions that can recur, and drug resistance is leading to low efficacy and even higher recurrence. The EU-funded NEFERTITI project is bringing a revolutionary new treatment to market, a vaginal tablet whose active substance is already an approved food additive. It treats the bacterial and fungal infection equally well, and has curative as well as long-term protective effects.
Objective
Bacterial vaginosis (BV) and vulvovaginal candidiasis (VCC) are common vaginal infections caused by Gardnerella and other anaerobic bacteria. or by Candida fungi. The infection can occur once - the acute form - or recur repeatedly over the course of a year. About 68m women in Europe and the US are infected each year. They cause intense physical discomfort, adversely affects quality of life and have heavy socioeconomic costs.
Many women opt to self-treat with non-prescription over-the-counter antifungals which fail because the causative microorganism has not been properly identified. Antibiotics for BV are encountering increasing levels of drug resistance. Combination of misdiagnosis, misuse, non-compliance, overconsumption leads to low efficacy and high recurrence rates for both VVC and BV.
NEFERTITI FTI will demonstrate in clinical trials a pessary based on glucono-δ-lactone –trademarked as pHyph - as a highly effective cure for acute and recurrent BV and VVC, and as a far better alternative to antibiotics or antifungals. pHyph restores the vaginal mucosa to pH4 and disrupts Candida biofilms, promotes the proliferation of natural and protective aerobic lactobacilli, and displaces Gardnerella and other anaerobic pathogenic bacteria. pHyph is a single solution for both pathogens and infections, and with both curative and protective effects, and does not trigger drug resistance in the microbiome. These features are unmatched by any other product on the market – whether as over the counter or prescribed.
NEFERTITI FTI will also develop a post-project business plan for the rapid scale up of production and commercialisation of pHyph in Europe in 2022 as an over-the-counter product into a market for BV and VVC treatments worth €1.7bn in 2022 and will be commercialised through a major drug distributor. The same plan will also mark the regulatory steps and commercial partners needed for pHyph to reach the US market in 2024.
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.
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology bacteriology
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology mycology
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy drug resistance
- medical and health sciences basic medicine pharmacology and pharmacy pharmaceutical drugs antibiotics
You need to log in or register to use this function
We are sorry... an unexpected error occurred during execution.
You need to be authenticated. Your session might have expired.
Thank you for your feedback. You will soon receive an email to confirm the submission. If you have selected to be notified about the reporting status, you will also be contacted when the reporting status will change.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
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.
-
H2020-EC - Horizon 2020 Framework Programme
MAIN PROGRAMME
See all projects funded under this programme -
H2020-EU.3. - PRIORITY 'Societal challenges
See all projects funded under this programme -
H2020-EU.2.1. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies
See all projects funded under this programme
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.
IA - Innovation action
See all projects funded under this funding scheme
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) H2020-EIC-FTI-2018-2020
See all projects funded under this callCoordinator
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.
223 81 Lund
Sweden
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
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.