eTheRNA awarded €6.9 million TIGER Grant by European Commission
pharmafile | March 22, 2021 | News story | Sales and Marketing | Cancer, EU
eTheRNA immunotherapies, a clinical-stage company, has been awarded a grant of €6.9 million by the European Commission to develop a novel mRNA cancer vaccine to treat recurrent or metastatic HPV16+ cancers.
The mRNA vaccine has succeeded in safety and efficacy trials in preclinical development studies, and the EU grant, received as part of the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, will support the start of Phase I/IIa clinical trial. The vaccine will be administered either as a standalone therapy or supplementary to PD-1 inhibitor standard of care. The key endpoints of the clinical programme are safety, immunogenicity, and clinical activity.
VP of Clinical Development at eTheRNA, Marina Cools, said: “eTheRNA and its collaborators welcome the award of this grant.
“In addition to HPV, this collaboration will investigate the possibility of applying mRNA technologies to the treatment of other cancer indications with poorly met medical needs.”
eTheRNA was established as a spin-off from the VUB University in Brussels, Belgium, and the Tiger grant was awarded to the consortium led by eTheRNA will see collaboration with Amsterdam UMC, BiotechSubsidy, the European Cancer Patient Coalition, and more.
Antonella Cardone, Director of European Cancer Patient Coalition, commented: “We are very happy to be part of the eTheRNA project. Representing the largest cancer patient community in Europe, ECPC will ensure that the patients’ perspective is heard throughout the implementation of the project.
“We strongly advocate the involvement of cancer patients in research projects as they provide invaluable understanding of the challenges that they face throughout their cancer journey.”
Recent data suggests that mRNA may become a key player in treating cancers and autoimmune diseases, with forecast indicating that the mRNA market will rise to around $37bn in 2030.
Will Brown
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