PERSEUS: A new cancer therapy based on nanotechnology
PERSEUS, whose full name is 2D Material-Based Multiple Oncotherapy Against Metastatic Disease Using a Radically New Computed Tomography Approach, aims to develop an organic/inorganic nanosystem that, delivered by liposomes guided by specific monoclonal antibodies (mAb) and under low-energy X-ray irradiation, induces the destruction of the DNA of deep solid tumours cells not reachable by other probes (e.g. light).
An important innovation of the project is that the nanosystem is agnostic to any type of solid tumour. In addition, the nanosystem is totally inactive in the body in the absence of X-ray irradiation, and cytocompatible. The project includes applications in the fields of oncotherapy, theranostics, and the use and development of therapeutic systems based on low-energy X-ray irradiation, CT scans, etc.
The expected impact is broad-ranging since PERSEUS aims to test possible additive or synergistic effects with other therapies, including immunotherapy and molecular target therapies (the basis of personalized medicine).
A distinctive aspect of the project is its intrinsic interdisciplinarity, which involves a multi-year collaboration between physicists, chemists, biologists, and medical professionals. The project also has potentially significant industrial implications of interest to innovative start-ups and companies engaged in the development of therapeutic CT scans.
The project's coordinator is Giancarlo Salviati, Associate Research Director at CNR-IMEM. Giancarlo Salviati has proven international and national experience, acquired in over 40 years of research activities at the CNR, in the study and engineering of materials, films, and nanostructures for optoelectronic, nanoelectronic, and biomedical applications.
The PERSEUS consortium comprises the following institutions:
- Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (Project scientific coordinator) - IT
- Karolinska Institutet - SE
- Israel Institute of Technology - IL
- Universidad de Vigo - ES
- Wigner Fizikai Kutatokozpont - HU
- BeDimensional SPA - IT
- QED Film & Stage Productions LTD (Associated partner) - UK
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Start Date: 1 March 2023
End Date: 28 February 2027
Granting authority: European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency
Funding: 2.7 million Euros
PERSEUS | GA 101099423 | HORIZON-EIC-2022-PATHFINDEROPEN-01