INSPIRE is an EU Project funded under the Horizon Europe research and innovation programme to develop a ground-breaking inhaled gene therapy treatment for lung cancer.
OmniSpirant Limited are delighted and honoured to announce the launch of INSPIRE, a €12.8 million lung cancer project funded by Horizon Europe. In one of the largest ever grants for preclinical research in lung cancer, OmniSpirant in collaboration with our European partners spanning across biotechnology, medical devices, cancer research, academia, patient advocacy, and gene therapy treatment is already actively working on the project deliverables, and recently met in Galway, Ireland for the official kick-off meeting.
OmniSpirant has put together a team of expert collaborators to develop and refine a clear and high-impact program of work. Participating partners include Aerogen Ltd. (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). Over the next three years of the project, this world-class consortium will progress the development of regenerative gene therapy treatment as a transformative new treatment for lung cancer. The INSPIRE project aims to make an important and tangible impact on Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan and the EU Mission on Cancer.
The burden of lung cancer
Lung cancer presents a significant health policy challenge with over 470,000 cases reported annually in Europe, accounting for 11% of all cancers. Cancer costs European countries €124 billion every year, with lung cancer incurring the largest total cost, amounting to €19 billion, mostly due to losses relating to premature death. The state-of-the-art approved treatments, such as targeted therapy and immune checkpoint inhibitors are prone to treatment resistance. The overall five-year survival rates for people with lung cancer remain extremely poor in comparison to other common cancers, highlighting the desperate need for innovative lung cancer treatments.
Creating affordable gene therapy treatment
OmniSpirant, as leaders and coordinators of the INSPIRE project along with consortium partners, will work to drive significant progress in the development of a novel, effective and affordable gene therapy treatment, which will improve drug access and better outcomes for people with lung cancer. This project will help in placing Europe as a leader in the fight against lung cancer and in the development of treatments for other debilitating lung diseases.
OmniSpirant is an Irish biotech founded in 2016 to develop first-in-class inhaled regenerative gene therapy treatments. OmniSpirant received EU funding in 2018 via the Horizon 2020 SME Instrument to develop advanced therapies for the treatment of cystic fibrosis. OmniSpirant also received the EU seal of excellence in 2020. The company’s new gene therapy treatment is based on its proprietary OmniSome™ platform technology, which utilises tiny particles, known as extracellular vesicles (EVs), secreted by stem cells carrying gene therapy cargoes. The OmniSome™ platform of products is currently being developed as first-in-class inhaled regenerative gene therapy treatments for cystic fibrosis, and now targeting lung cancer via the INSPIRE project. The company also has plans to use this platform to develop treatments for other lung diseases including alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD), acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).
“We are delighted to collaborate with our pan-European partners in developing this exciting new approach” said OmniSpirant CEO Gerry McCauley.
“We are at the forefront of harnessing extracellular vesicles to deliver RNA-based therapeutics in the fight against lung cancer and in developing our platform to address a host of chronic pulmonary conditions, which today have suboptimal treatment.”
For more information, please visit www.omnispirant.com or contact Gerry McCauley, CEO at gmccauley@omnispirant.com.
The INSPIRE project consists of expert partners from across the EU:
Aerogen Ltd. (@Aerogen) – the world leader in high-performance aerosol drug delivery in the acute and critical care sector. Their award-winning vibrating mesh technology, which is the heart of their Aerogen Solo, has been used in the treatment of more than 16 million patients in more than 75 countries.
Trinity College Dublin (@tcddublin) – Trinity Translational Medicine Institute (https://www.tcd.ie/ttmi/) at St James’s Hospital (https://www.stjames.ie/research/) translating novel discoveries from bench to bedside.
RemedyBio (@RemedyBio) – an Irish biotechnology company inspired by functional biology for the discovery and development of new immune therapies using the power of its Nanoreactor Technology for the analysis of individual cells and cell interactions.
Myriad Associates (@MyriadIreland) – Specialists in Horizon Europe and national funding project coordination, R&D Tax Credits and Grant Funding. Offices in UK, Ireland and France.
EVerZom (@EVerZom_EVs) – a French SME with a patented large-scale EV production process.
DKFZ – Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum (@DKFZ) – the largest biomedical research institute in Germany investigating the biological mechanisms of cancer to develop novel approaches to cancer treatment.
Biopharma Excellence (Pharmalex) (@PharmaLexGLOBAL) – world leaders in regulatory consulting for biopharmaceutical products.
Lung Cancer Europe (@LungCancerEu) – a European non-profit umbrella organisation, with the vision that Europeans impacted by lung cancer will have equity in access to optimal care so that they have the best possible outcomes and quality of life.
Further information:
INSPIRE is fully funded (grant number 101057777) under the funding call HORIZON-HLTH-2021-TOOL-06 by The Horizon Europe Funding programme that promotes the collaboration of EU-based SME and academic partners in addressing major societal challenges.
OmniSpirant Limited was founded in 2016 by Mr Gerry McCauley, a pharmacist and inventor of the inhaled surface-engineered EV platform technology (OmniSomes™). OmniSpirant identified and has developed differential abilities in working with extracellular vesicles and harnessing them to carry genetic information to target cells and tissues to enhance the treatment of chronic lung diseases.
In pulmonary medicine, delivering RNA and DNA gene therapy cargoes to the lung is especially challenging with over 25 years of attempts and failures in the case of cystic fibrosis. OmniSpirant believes the OmniSome technology is the ‘Rosetta stone’ a key enabling platform to develop multiple lung-targeted gene therapy treatments.
The Inspire consortium includes the relevant skills and expertise recruited across Europe to address a challenge of this scale and complexity. OmniSpirant has been supported by Enterprise Ireland and EU funding in its development and expansion to date.
