Janssen Horizon finances two projects from Institut Curie
Janssen Horizon, an endowment fund for health innovation, funds research projects in France in translational research and the human and social sciences in health. Among the nominations received, Janssen Horizon has selected two projects presented by Physiotherapists at the Curie Institute: "Single cell analysis of immune responses against lung cancer and biomarker research" and "Radioimmunotherapy in the field of treatment of rhabdoid tumors ". Led by internationally recognized teams in these fields, these research projects receive a significant contribution of more than 2.2 million euros in total.
The € 10 million Janssen Horizon Fund supports teams in France that are particularly innovative in translational research and social sciences and humanities. The five targeted therapeutic areas are: oncology, hematological malignancies, autoimmune diseases, infectiology and neuroscience.
The prizes are awarded to confirmed researchers who have submitted their projects by spontaneous application. The projects are then submitted to the assessment of a Scientific Committee composed of nine experts, then validated by the Board of Directors of Janssen Horizon who allocates the endowments.
"We were very sensitive to the quality of two projects presented by researchers at the Institut Curie. Our evaluation criteria included innovation, feasibility, significant medical need, reputation of the project team, and proposed methodology. That's why we decided to support them "
explains Emmanuelle Quilès, President of Janssen Horizon.
During the signing ceremony at the Institut Curie on February 15, 2018, Emmanuelle Quilès, President of the Janssen Horizon Fund, presents the research teams with their prizes, in the presence of Professor Thierry Philip, President of the Institut Curie. For their project in pediatric oncology on "Radioimmunotherapy in the treatment of rhabdoid tumors", Dr. Franck Bourdeaut and Celio Pouponnot receive an endowment of € 1,085,000 from the Janssen Horizon Fund.
"Many thanks to Janssen Horizon for their support of research in France. This grant accelerates the research project that we are conducting in close collaboration with Dr. Eliane Piaggio and Célio Pouponnot. We will be able to define in particular the best modalities of immuno- and radiotherapies while decreasing the sequelae in the patients, "
says Dr. Franck Bourdeaut.
For their immunotherapy project on "Single cell analysis of immune responses against lung cancer and biomarker research", Sebastian Amigorena and Prof. Nicolas Girard receive an allocation of € 1.2 million from the Janssen Horizon Fund.
"We thank Janssen Horizon for their interest in understanding the immune responses in patients with lung cancer. The money we receive today will allow us to fund work to improve the prediction of therapeutic responses to immunotherapy at all stages of the disease, in advanced and early-stage tumors, "
explain Sebastian Amigorena and Professor Nicolas Girard.
"The Institut Curie looks forward to two major financings. On the one hand, these are two medical-scientific research projects that are at the heart of our institutional priorities for the coming years. On the other hand, they perfectly illustrate the strengthening of our links with our industrial partners. This is the purpose of our label "Institut Carnot" which aims to develop research between public institutions and private partners, for the benefit of our patients "
concludes Professor Thierry Philip, President of the Institut Curie.
