OmniSpirant and EVerZom Team up to Develop a New Gene Therapy Treatment for Lung Cancer With Extracellular Vesicles

A €12.8 million lung cancer project funded by Horizon Europe

PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--OmniSpirant Limited and EVerZom are delighted to announce the launch of 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 including Aerogen Limited (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 3 years of the project, this world-class consortium will progress the development of a regenerative gene therapy as a transformative new treatment for lung cancer. The INSPIRE programme aims to make an important and tangible impact on Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan and the EU Mission on Cancer.

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. The state-of-the-art approved treatments, such as targeted therapy and immune checkpoint inhibitors are prone to treatment resistance. The overall 5-year survival rates for people with lung cancer remain extremely poor, highlighting the desperate need for innovative treatments.

OmniSpirant is an Irish biotech founded in 2016 to develop first-in-class inhaled regenerative gene therapies. This development is based on its proprietary OmniSome™ platform technology, which utilises tiny particles carrying cellular cargoes, known as extracellular vesicles (EVs) secreted by stem cells. Targeted indications are pulmonary diseases like cystic fibrosis or alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD), and now, lung cancer via the INSPIRE project.

“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”

“We are delighted to collaborate with OmniSpirant to bring our technologies and know how to manufacture extracellular vesicles at large scale and affordable costs to develop this future breakthrough treatment.” said Jeanne Volatron, EVerZom CEO.

For more information, please visit inspire.lungcancereurope.eu and www.omnispirant.com or contact Gerry McCauley, CEO at gmccauley@omnispirant.com or Jeanne Volatron, CEO at jeanne.volatron@everzom.com

Press contact: fportejoie@fp2com.fr