TETHIS-SBS-CTC

Project "TETHIS-SBS-CTC" data sheet

The following table provides information about the project.

 Partnership

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 Project objective

Cancer is one of the most important causes of death worldwide, accounting for 8.8 million deaths. The rate of new cases is expected to rise by 70% in the next 2 decades, posing a huge challenge for the healthcare system. If diagnosed early and treated adequately, many cases would have a high chance of cure. This realization is driving the growth in the cancer diagnostics market. The detection and analysis of Circulating Tumour Cells (CTCs) encloses a huge potential for real-time monitoring of cancer cases. CTCs are considered a “diagnostic tumour marker” since they are the reflection of a metastatic aggression. We at TETHIS have developed a new diagnostic platform to characterize CTCs from liquid biopsy (i.e. blood). The combination of our expertise in nanotechnology and strong biology knowledge have led to the development of a Smart BioSurface (SBS) that creates a perfect environment to immobilize CTCs using a total capture approach. Compared to the state-of-the-art alternatives, our methodology does not require pre-enrichment or selection. Having validated this technology for cancer diagnostics at the pilot stage, this project is conceived to finalise the development and market preparation of this technology, culminating in a diagnostic platform for cellular, proteomic and molecular characterization of CTCs. The platform will have key applications, including diagnostics and monitoring in clinical settings, and drug discovery & therapy development in the pharma/biotech sectors. The Phase 1 of this project is dedicated to run a Feasibility Study that helps us evaluate the project from a technical, commercial and financial standpoint. Once the project is finished, we expect our platform to improve the diagnostic capability in the oncology sector, enabling earlier detection and better management. In turn, it will secure the growth for TETHIS, expecting to gain over €10 million in profits, hire 15 new people and reach a ROI of €2.58 from this project after 5 years.