Launch of strategic public-private partnership projects MicroBiomics and Blanca
- The consortia of these two initiatives will work on characterizing the microbiota in different pathological processes and improving treatment of tumors with a poor prognosis.
This summer marked the launch of the MicroBiomics and Blanca public-private partnership projects, two of the fifteen strategic R&D initiatives funded by the Government of Navarre’s Ministry of Economic and Business Development in its 2021 call for projects. Both projects are scheduled to last for three years and their consortia include professionals from Navarrabiomed coordinated by the CIMA Universidad de Navarra applied medical research center.
The role of microorganisms in health
On July 27, the first meeting was held of the consortium of the MicroBiomics Project, with members CIMA, Navarrabiomed (with the participation of the Microbial Pathogenesis Unit and the Proteomics Platform), the Clínica Universidad de Navarra, the Hospital Complex of Navarre (Digestive Medicine and Rheumatology Services), the Universidad de Navarra (through CIMA LAB Diagnostics and the Center for Nutrition Research), ADItech, NUCAPS and CNTA, with the collaboration of NASERTIC.
Recent studies indicate that the microbial communities naturally present in the human organism play a fundamental role in our health. These microorganisms, known collectively as microbiota, can participate in the pathophysiology of different disorders, as well as the patient's response to pharmacological treatments.
The aim of the project is to generate a multi-omic platform and a set of bioinformatics tools to provide for comprehensive characterization of the role of the microbiota in pathological processes (digestive disorders, autoimmune diseases, cancer, etc.). An additional study will also be carried out to gather more information about how alterations in microbiota affect patient response to different clinical and therapeutic interventions.
Genomic technology to generate new therapeutic targets
Those participating in the Blanca Project (Breast and Liver ANti-Cancer Antigens) include professionals from CIMA, Navarrabiomed (Proteomics Platform, the Clínica Universidad de Navarra, the Hospital Complex of Navarre (Digestive Medicine, Allergology (Immunology), Hematology and Pathological Anatomy Services), the company Bionanoplus, the SARAY association, ADItech and NASERTIC.
All consortium members met in July to kick off this project with the aim of developing vaccines for treating triple-negative breast cancer and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common type of liver cancer. Both of these tumors with a poor prognosis make it necessary to explore the characterization of the molecular mechanisms behind these disorders. The Blanca Project uses a multidisciplinary approach to propose new therapeutic targets for future use, such as in vaccines based on messenger RNA.
Both initiatives will be carried out within the framework of a public-private partnership supported by the Navarre Health Research Institute (IdiSNA).