Objective Colorectal cancer (CRC) was diagnosed in 1.23 million people worldwide (EU 333,000) in 2008 and 608,000 (EU 148,000) died of the disease. While some new treatments have been advanced in CRC many have failed clinical testing; metastatic CRC is still largely incurable.In CRC, Cancer Stem Cells (CSC) are responsible for tumour progression and resistant to standard chemotherapies. The Wnt signal transduction cascade controls normal colon physiology but also CSC maintenance. Deregulation of Wnt and other mitogenic pathways results in formation of aggressive tumours with metastatic potential. Novel combinatorial drugs targeting CSCs are required to address signalling redundancy and subvert resistance and escape mechanisms. However to test them effectively better drug screening tools must be developed. The high failure rate in cancer drug research has been linked to the poor predictive capacity of drug screening models for cancer and the inability to select the right patients for treatment.In SUPPRESSTEM, novel antibody-based therapeutics will be designed to modulate the Wnt pathway externally in combination with mitogenic receptors resulting in specific inhibition of CSCs with minimal toxicity on healthy tissue. The likelihood of clinically translating these goals will be enhanced because testing will be performed on relevant human patient material (both tumour and normal) using organoid technology and novel imaging readouts. In depth analysis of the phenotype of responsive organoids (patient material) will be used to identify a lead product.Successful execution of SUPPRESSTEM will provide an innovative drug product and drug screening tool ready for clinical validation that ultimately will increase the life expectancy and quality of cancer patients. Funding of SUPPRESSTEM will enable three research-focused SME’s to establish an innovative drug discovery paradigm with broad application in the cancer drug development. Fields of science medical and health sciencesbasic medicinepharmacology and pharmacydrug discoverymedical and health sciencesmedical biotechnologycells technologiesstem cellsmedical and health sciencesclinical medicineoncologycolorectal cancermedical and health sciencesbasic medicinephysiology Programme(s) FP7-HEALTH - Specific Programme "Cooperation": Health Topic(s) HEALTH.2013.0-1 - Boosting the translation of health research projects' results into innovative applications for health Call for proposal FP7-HEALTH-2013-INNOVATION-2 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme CP-FP - Small or medium-scale focused research project Coordinator MERUS BV EU contribution € 3 229 540,60 Address PADUALAAN 8 133 3584CH UTRECHT Netherlands See on map Activity type Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments) Administrative Contact Shelley Margetson (Ms.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data Participants (4) Sort alphabetically Sort by EU Contribution Expand all Collapse all KONINKLIJKE NEDERLANDSE AKADEMIE VAN WETENSCHAPPEN - KNAW Netherlands EU contribution € 1 122 911,00 Address KLOVENIERSBURGWAL 29 HET TRIPPENHUIS 1011 JV AMSTERDAM See on map Region West-Nederland Noord-Holland Groot-Amsterdam Activity type Research Organisations Administrative Contact Don Van Velzen (Mr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data OCELLO BV Netherlands EU contribution € 892 151,00 Address J H OORTWEG LEIDEN BIOPARTNER 21 2333 CH LEIDEN See on map Activity type Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments) Administrative Contact Leo Price (Dr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data FUNDACIO INSTITUT DE RECERCA BIOMEDICA (IRB BARCELONA) Spain EU contribution € 338 346,80 Address CARRER BALDIRI REIXAC 10-12 PARC SCIENTIFIC DE BARCELONA 08028 Barcelona See on map Region Este Cataluña Barcelona Activity type Research Organisations Administrative Contact Raquel Furio (Ms.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data GENOME RESEARCH LIMITED United Kingdom EU contribution € 370 369,60 Address WELLCOME SANGER INSTITUTE WELLCOME GENOME CAMPUS HINXTON CB10 1SA SAFFRON WALDEN See on map Region East of England East Anglia Cambridgeshire CC Activity type Research Organisations Administrative Contact David Davison (Mr.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data
