Project description
Gene therapy for regeneration of the cardiac conduction system
Ageing and age-related diseases cause degeneration of the cardiac conduction system (CCS), which creates and conducts the electrical impulse that drives the heartbeat. To tackle the resulting slow heart rates, electronic pacemakers have been the treatment of choice, but they are associated with high costs and reduced quality of life as complications often occur. The EU-funded PACE project aims to work on the regeneration of the CCS using gene therapy-based strategies that can provide biological pacing. To that end, it will optimise specific gene therapy tools and validate them in vivo.
Objective
The problem: Ageing and age-related diseases cause degeneration of the cardiac conduction system (CCS) that creates and conducts the electrical impulse which drives the heart beat (pacing). The resulting slow heart rate (bradycardia) necessitates electronic pacemaker implantation in 500,000 patients yearly in Europe (direct costs of €3.4 billion). This current state-of-the-art treatment has significant limitations (dangerous complications, reduced quality-of-life) that, stemming from its design, may never be resolved. Regeneration of CCS function is conceptually superior and scientific discoveries, enabling CCS regeneration, were recently made. Closest to clinical testing are a variety of gene therapy-based strategies that can provide for biological pacing. Complementary strategies to repair conduction are also under development.
The solution: To transit biological pacemaker therapies towards clinical testing it will be crucially important to optimize the gene delivery vectors with transcriptional targeting to the CCS. This will provide for more efficient and safer vectors that can be utilized in the context of biological pacing and repair of compromised conduction. The PACE project is designed to provide for final proof-of-concept in the development path, moving forward from scientific discovery towards clinical implementation and testing. As such the PACE project will optimize and validate the use of CCS-specific cis-acting regulatory modules (CRMs) to optimize transcriptional targeting to desired CCS components in the heart and validate these in vivo. The development and validation of these CCS-targeted vectors will importantly strengthen our IP-position, thereby supporting the business development efforts that are an integral part of the PACE project.
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.
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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.
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H2020-EU.1.1. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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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.
ERC-POC-LS - ERC Proof of Concept Lump Sum Pilot
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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) ERC-2019-PoC
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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.
1105AZ Amsterdam
Netherlands
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.