CORDIS

Our overall aim in 3D-NEONET is to enhance the development of new therapeutics for oncology and ophthalmology, at all steps on the journey, from discovery and preclinical research to clinical trial and regulatory approval. 3D-NEONET brings together for this, a unique group of microbiologists, cancer biologists, chemists, material scientists, mechanical engineers, ocular pharmacologists, geneticists and toxicologists from 9 academic and 8 non-academic participating organisations in 6 countries across Europe plus a partner organisation in US (www.3dNEONET.org).

These institutions are sharing knowledge and exchanging staff, which enables opportunities to work on joint research and innovation projects in oncology and ophthalmology. During the first 2 years of the project, 36 Marie S. Curie fellows have completed a total of 74 secondment months, acquiring new skills and transferring their expertise, while having an enriching personal experience in different countries, sectors and cultures to their sending institutions (see Fellows Blog in the website). Through these exchanges, 3D-NEONET is accelerating the development of different therapeutic interventions for cancer and severe eye disease.

Relevance of Vision Loss. ~314 million people worldwide suffer from vision impairments. The European Forum Against Blindness (EFAB) reported that eye disease significantly reduces a person’s quality of life and creates a multi-billion-euro burden on European economies. In the seven European countries studied (France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Spain and Great Britain) the economic burden of blindness amounted to ~€7,000,000,000. In these countries, ~3.8 million Europeans suffer from glaucoma, ~2.8 million from wet age-related macular degeneration and ~1.8 million from diabetic retinopathy. Therefore, cost-effective interventions (e.g. screening and treatments) to overcome the individual and societal impact of vision loss are needed.

Relevance of Cancer. GLOBOCAN report 14.1 million new cancer cases and 8.2 million deaths were recorded worldwide in 2012. Lung cancer is the principal cause of cancer death among males and has exceeded breast cancer as the leading cause of cancer death among females; breast cancer remains the main cause of cancer death among females. Other prominent causes of cancer death include colorectal and prostate cancer among males. Annual costs of cancer treatment and care estimated to escalate from $104,000,000 in 2006 to over $173,000,000 in 2020. The surge in cost is due to the increase in both the cost of treatment and the magnitude of care (Yabroff et al, 2008). The majority of new therapies cost ~$5,000 per month, and usually the cost-effectiveness ratios surpass commonly recognized thresholds – an unjustifiable trend.

During the first half of the project, new animal models of cancer disease have been developed (in zebrafish and mouse) using cutting-edge technologies like patient-derived xenografts (PDX) and CRISPR-CAS gene editing. Fungi strains have been used both to isolate active compounds and as a model to study drug metabolism. Also, novel hydrogels and nanopolymers for drug delivery have been developed and characterised, together with a system based on DNA-functionalized gold nanoparticles for the detection of pathogens and eye disease. Finally, 3D-NEONET has enabled the transfer of business and management skills from well stablished SMEs to recently formed start-ups and emerging commercial ideas at the University.

Some tangible proofs of work carried out so far in 3DNEONET are: i) accomplishment of all the grant agreement deliverables scheduled for the first reporting period (10 out of the 21); ii) four publications in biomedical peer reviewed journals, and a patent application is being prepared based on the IP generated through one of the collaborations (UCD-Ocupharm); iii) two new collaborative proposals for EU funding involving several participants have been submitted; iv) organisation of 2 international workshops in Portugal and Ireland; v) generation of an educational video on CRISPR gene editing technology (https://vimeo.com/269835292) plus an additional video about corneal neovascularisation as work of progress ; vi) 5 school visits in Ireland and Spain reaching out to more than 500 children; and vii) over 15 appearances in the media (press releases, lay articles and interviews)

After these 2 years, 3D-NEONET is a consolidated and sustainable international network of academics and SMEs who are collectively overcoming obstacles in the development of therapeutics for oncology and ophthalmology.