Irish biotech company OmniSpirant and French biotech EVerZom have joined other partners to launch INSPIRE, a €12.8 million lung cancer project funded by Horizon Europe.
The project gathers European partners spanning across biotechnology, medical devices, cancer research, academia and patient advocacy. Over the next three years, the consortium will progress the development of a regenerative gene therapy for lung cancer.
The new treatment will use OmniSpirant’s OmniSom technology to develop an inhaled regenerative gene therapy. The technology utilises tiny particles carrying cellular cargoes, known as extracellular vesicles (EVs) secreted by stem cells.
Partners include Aerogen (Ireland), Trinity College Dublin (Ireland), RemedyBio (Ireland), Myriad Associates (Ireland), EVerZom (France), Biopharma Excellence (Pharmalex) (Germany), Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum (DKFZ) (Germany) and Lung Cancer Europe (Switzerland).
Lung cancer presents a significant health policy challenge, with over 470 thousand cases reported annually in Europe, accounting for 11% of all cancers and 15% of healthcare expenses in cancer.
Current treatments, such as targeted therapy and immune checkpoint inhibitors, are prone to treatment resistance. The overall five-year survival rates remain extremely poor, highlighting the desperate need for innovative treatments.
