PROGETTI

ZIDECHIP

Point of Care for simultaneus detection of Zika, Dengue and Chikungunya viruses.

Capofila: ALIFAX SRL
Partner: LABORATORI RIUNITI SRL
Enti di ricerca: ICGEB

About 80% of the world’s population lives in areas with risk of diseases transmitted by insects (Global Vector Control Response, WHO, 2017). World Health Organization (WHO) is currently conducting surveillance of the spread of viruses, developing and distributing better diagnostic tests, providing guidance and advice to states and localities on strengthening mosquito control and source reduction efforts. Mosquito control programs, expertise and financial resources are highly varied throughout the world, ranging from absent or with limited capacity in some jurisdictions to advanced integrated mosquito management programs in others. In particular, the transmission of arboviral diseases (Dengue and Chikungunya in 2013-2014, and Zika in 2015-2017) poses new challenges for public health. The three diseases pathogens can produce similar clinical symptoms, mainly during the acute phase, hindering clinical diagnosis and creating problems for appropriate case management, sometimes triggering fatal events. In this perspective, Alifax will answer to patients’ needs by applying its innovative equipment for rapid Real Time PCR (RT PCR) to create a robust diagnostic Point of Care (PoC) device for genotyping of Zika, Dengue and Chikungunya viruses (ZIKV, DNV, CHKV). In the ZIDECHIP project (Funded by POR FESR, 1489/2017), the leading company Alifax R&D will combine its technology with the expertise in the field of tropical diseases of ICGEB, to obtain an In Vitro Diagnostic Device that will be validated thanks to the collaboration with ‘Laboratori Riuniti’ of Trieste and final users.

Valore progetto: € 521.134,64
Contributo ammesso: € 495.957,65
Contributo concesso: € 293.465,66

ARES

Against bRain cancEr: finding personalized therapies with in Silico and in vitro strategies

Capofila: EXACT LAB SRL
Enti di ricerca: CNR-IOM
Università:  SISSA
UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI UDINE
Partner: dott. Dino Palatin

This project presents an innovative approach towards a personalized treatment and therapy of glioblastoma (GBM), the most common malignant primitive brain tumor. With currently available therapies (surgery followed by chemo and radio therapy) the average life expectancy of the affected patients is only one year. Surgery alone is not able to completely eradicate the tumor due to the infiltrative nature of GBM. Additionally, the cancer cells can rapidly develop resistance to currently available therapies. In this scenario, our project will have two aims: 1. to identify new therapies capable of blocking the proliferative and infiltrative capacity of GBM tumor cells, possibly extending these therapies to low-grade gliomas, to find an effective cure even in the initial phase of the disease; 2. To develop new assays able to predict the response of patients to drugs, thus allowing a personalization of the therapy.

Valore progetto: € 1.085.821,19
Contributo ammesso: € 1.085.821,19
Contributo concesso: € 833.432,93

PREFER

Development of a biocompatible product for difficult wound therapies (diabetic foot).

Capofila: VIVABIOCELL SPA
Partner: ZETA RESEARCH SRL
Università: UNIVERSITA’ DEGLI STUDI DI TRIESTE
Enti di ricerca: ICGEB

PREFER intends to bring to a close-to-market threshold an Advanced Therapy Medicinal Product (ATMP) that will demonstrate efficacy in the therapeutic revascularization of tissues for the treatment of difficult wounds (diabetic foot, ulcers). These are serious diseases that can lead to amputation and are widespread in the elderly population (3% prevalence of the population over 65 years), for which the effectiveness of available treatments is greatly reduced by the vascular deficits of patients, often affected by diabetes, peripheral arteriopathy and other diseases that prevent healing.

Valore progetto: € 1.102.085,24
Contributo ammesso: € 1.099.961,79
Contributo concesso: € 718.944,48

BIOSAFE

BIOfilm Sensing and Analisys For hEalth

Capofila: APE Research SRL
Partner: FIRST SRL
Università: UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI TRIESTE, UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI UDINE

Bacterial biofilms are the main cause of microbial contamination, with serious implications for health the environment, at a domestic and industrial level. The BIOSAFE project aims to develop an innovative and compact opto-mechanical sensors system for the monitoring of bacterial biofilm growth and the effectiveness of sanitizing treatments. The BIOSAFE sensors system will be optimized and validated for applications in the household appliances sector. The results of BIOSAFE project can be extended to different industrial sectors interested in the biofilm growth problematic (food sector, biomedical sector, potable water sector , …).

Valore progetto: € 510.734,58
Contributo ammesso: € 510.734,58
Contributo concesso: € 374.125,41

PREDITT

PREDIzione Tumori Tiroidei

Capofila: AB ANALITICA SRL
Partner: Biofuture Medicine SRL
Università: UNIVERSITA’ DEGLI STUDI DI UDINE

Thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine neoplasm worldwide, with a frequency of 12/100.000 new cases per year in Italy. Nowadays, Fine- Needle Aspiration Biopsy (FNAB) is the most common methodology used to establish the most adequate therapeutic approach, even though do not allow clinicians to define tumor aggressiveness. While associated to known molecular markers, FNAB still possess no predictive value towards therapeutic response (i.e. chemotherapeutics or biological drugs). The aim of this project is to develop a very innovative methodology to improve the management/treatment of patients with thyroid tumors. This approach will be defined in this project in two phases:
1. First, in a pre-surgery stage, FNAB-obtained material will be used to evaluate both known tumor associated biomarkers and new molecular markers by using innovative technologies such as Methylated-RNA Immunoprecipitation (me-RIP) and Next Generation Sequencing (NGS). The me- RIP technology allows the evaluation of RNA methylation levels in order to define a specific profile for each tumor sample. Gathered data will help to decide whether to perform surgery or not, based on the aggressiveness characteristics.
2. Post-surgery, surgically removed material will be used to create three-dimensional cell cultures (organoids) deriving from a single tumor sample. This innovative technique will allow to evaluate tumor response to radioiodine and/or antineoplastic drugs treatments.
Overall, this integrated approach will provide new predictive markers for personalized treatment of patients with thyroid tumors and, therefore, will be beneficial to improve the national healthcare system. In fact, it will allow to avoid unnecessary surgical procedures such as total thyroidectomy, i.e. for mildly aggressive thyroid tumors, and which leads to a deterioration in patients’ quality of life. From the development of this absolutely innovative method, the production of patents can also be derived.

Valore progetto: € 472.294,30
Contributo ammesso: € 449.206,90
Contributo concesso: € 254.379,04

NUTRIACT

Percorsi personalizzati di rieducazione fisica ed alimentare per la prevenzione ed il trattamento della sarcopenia

Capofila: MEDICUS SRL
Partner: CONTENTOTRADE SRL
Università: UNIVERSITA’ DEGLI STUDI DI TRIESTE, UNIVERSITA’ DEGLI STUDI DI UDINE
Enti di ricerca: IRCCS BURLO GAROFOLO

The NUTRIACT project finds application in the field of “Innovative Therapy” and aims to develop an integrated response to sarcopenia, pathology related to aging and characterized by the progressive decline of mass and muscle strength.
The phenomenon, which can be slowed but not arrested, manifests itself around the age of 50, leading the subject towards a slow and progressive compromise of the quality of life.
Given the increasing rise of the average age in Western society, it is necessary to identify a solution that allows the improvement of the living conditions of the elderly and allows a reduction in the costs of health care related to this disease.
During the research project, a study will be carried out on a sample of subjects between 55 and 75 years of age presbyopopenic and sarcopenic, which starting from the analysis of the patient’s genetic profile, together with the evaluation of the degree of sarcopenia, will allow the definition by a medical team of dietary pathways (integrations of protein intake) and personalized training programs, aimed at fighting the evolution of the disease.
During the course of the activities, various biological samples will be analyzed, useful both to test the effects of the personalized diet on the well-being of the patient and to identify the biomarkers useful for the definition of an early diagnosis.

Valore progetto: € 956.766,21
Contributo ammesso: € 953.177,76
Contributo concesso: € 0

CASSIA

Cloud Assisted per la Salute e la Sicurezza

Capofila: FEATURE JAM SRL
Partner: TELEVITA SPA
Università: UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI TRIESTE
Enti di ricerca: ASUITS

The CASSIA project – Cloud Assisted per la Salute e Sicurezza dell’Anziano – develops and verifies an assistance service for home monitoring in an operating environment. The focus is the observation of activities and possible falls on three families of users: elderly people with a slight cognitive decline, elderly people with particular pathologies, or Parkinson’s (neurological disorder causing anomalies on the subject’s gait) and outcomes from TIA (transitory ischemic attack, alarm bell that may precede stroke). The system allows these people, fragile and at risk, to continue to live in their home safely and with remote support. The service responds to the institutions’ need to align themselves with the regional guidelines (LR 22/2014 “Promotion of Active Aging”, which sets objectives such as the stay at home of the elderly person, support for home assistance and the dissemination of correct lifestyles, etc.).
In particular, the possibility of observing the activities is certainly a help to avoid or rescue promptly in the event of a fall of the monitored patient. In fact, this event is generally one of the first causes of access to the Emergency Room (about 1,800,000 cases / year over 65, and the first cause of traumas and fractures, whose direct cost is about € 13,000 per fall, and is one of the first items of expenditure of the sanitary system), and it is an event with nefarious outcomes for the elderly / frail subjects.
CASSIA wants to act precisely in the field of home security, detecting activities, movements and falls, thanks to the activation of preventive interventions and a remote assistance service that is activated by the alert – output of the analysis of the data relating to environmental sensors and wearable – through specific artificial intelligence algorithms that make up the DSS (Decision Support System) system.
CASSIA is therefore able to give an effective and integrated response in the care system both to the private market represented by the elderly and their families, and to the public in terms of support for domiciliary (to encourage a more autonomous aging, to the benefit of maintenance of an active life and less recourse to the Services or even to the institutionalization, sometimes premature and choice in the absence of alternatives). It fits perfectly into the regional and national policies aimed at favoring territorial assistance, optimizing the connection between the hospital and the territory and favoring the social component in the pathways of care and reacquisition of the autonomy and self-determination of fragile people.
The same system can be read and used as a tool for the temporal verification of the motor performance of the patients, favoring the doctor in controlling the course of the disease, also caused by changes in the pharmacological treatment. In the literature there are several solutions experimented for the detection of falls, as well as for the detection of movement for particular pathologies: however, integrated solutions of intelligent devices (made by suitable algorithms) associated with structured social-health assistance services are not identified. This integration means emotional and psychological security for the citizen and his family network.

Valore progetto: € 502.048,74
Contributo ammesso: € 481.518,16
Contributo concesso: € 0

CATHENA

CAncer THErapy by NAnomedicine

Capofila: BRACCO IMAGING SPA
Partner: APE Research SRL
Università: UNIVERSITA’ DEGLI STUDI DI TRIESTE
Enti di Ricerca: IRCCS CRO AVIANO

Currently most used drug therapies in the fight against tumors are based on antibodies or nanodimensional systems (nanomedicine) directed toward specific molecular targets in order to counter the metabolic processes of tumor proliferation or induce the death of cancer cells. The use of such therapies has encountered significant limitations, because of the resistance to transport in the tumor microenvironment that reduces the diffusion of the drug and restricts the distribution within the stroma and cancer cells. The purpose of the project is to study new combined therapeutic strategies which will increase the volume of distribution and the amount of anticancer drugs selectively in the tumor tissue, due to variation in the pathophysiological state. To this end, the project is divided with a series of preclinical testing by making use of optical imaging techniques using fluorescent contrast agents for testing the permeability of tissues from nanoparticles and monoclonal antibodies. The validation of the results will be obtained through the analysis of histological images of immunofluorescence for the expression and characterization of the biomarkers associated with the action of the therapeutic and the analysis of the volume of distribution of contrast agents in tumor tissue.

Valore progetto: € 1.011.084,18
Contributo ammesso: € 1.011.084,18
Contributo concesso: € 0

PREFAB

Sviluppo di un PRocEsso per la produzione di FArmaci Biosimilari

Capofila: BIOVALLEY INVESTMENTS PARTNER SRL
Partner: SIGEA SRL
Enti di ricerca: ICGEB
Università: UNIVERSITA’ DEGLI STUDI DI TRIESTE

Over the past decade, more than 80 biopharmaceutical products have approached the market, globally (medicines produced using living organisms, including hormones, monoclonal antibodies, blood coagulation factors, vaccines) that offer patients innovative treatments in different therapeutic areas. World market projections indicate growth of $ 390 billion for 2020, when biotherapeutics account for up to 28% of the global pharmaceutical market (IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics, March 2016). Biopharmaceuticals are very efficient therapies, but they are expensive and are often used in chronic conditions that require constant treatment. A great opportunity to expand patient access to these therapies is the development of high quality biopharmaceuticals, but at a lower cost, after the expiry of the original drug patents. In the European Union, this new category of medicines is called “biosimilar”. Biosimilars are now globally recognized as safe and efficient medicines and the World Health Organization (WHO), the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have prepared guidelines for the evaluation of biosimilars by demonstrating their full correspondence to the reference medicines in terms of quality, efficacy and safety. To date, the EMA has approved 29 biosimilars (first of all Omnitrope, the human growth hormone). Health systems can realize savings of over € 50 billion over the next 5 years in major EU and US markets; savings based simply on the direct competition of biosimilars with the original molecule. An average 30% reduction in the price of biosimilars compared to the original biopharmaceutical molecule has led to a substantial increase in the use of the drug and an expansion of therapeutic applications. For these reasons, the development of biosimilars represents an area of strong growth in the biopharmaceutical industry with enormous opportunities both in terms of health public and economic policy. The project, using the expertise and resources of some important national and international companies in the field of biotechnology in the FVG region, wants to lay a solid foundation in the design of biosimilar production processes starting from the creation of the recombinant organisms responsible for the expression up to the protocols of purification and quality control and biosimilarity both from the point of view of industrial research and the development of technologies ready for transfer to the pharmaceutical industry.

Valore progetto: € 1.199.358,74
Contributo ammesso: € 769.326,99
Contributo concesso: € 0

BEF

Benessere, Energia, Futuro

Capofila: ENERGETICA & CO. SRLS
Partner: COMUNITÀ EDUCANTE CSC ONLUS, DIVISIONE ENERGIA SRL
Università: UNIVERSITA’ DEGLI STUDI DI TRIESTE
Enti di ricerca: ICGEB

The project “WELLNESS, ENERGY, FUTURE”, comes from the desire of a specialized partnership to define an innovative product / service to improve the comfort, safety and well-being of guests of protected facilities. Specifically, this is the creation of a prototype environment / system able to offer the guest the best lighting conditions and environmental microclimate. The project will develop in different activities where the partners – Energetica & CO, Energy Division, Educating Community, I.C.G.E.B. and University of Trieste – will carry out research activities for the collection and analysis of data, sensor development and software, and final testing of the environmental prototype. The proposed innovation concerns the analysis of the state of comfort and general well-being, through the reading of the feedback sent by the patients themselves or detected by the operators, in order to generate an optimization of the microclimate and environmental lighting. To this end, there will be a complex infrastructure dedicated to the exchange of information that will allow you to automatically change the environmental micro-climate, composed of the following parameters: air temperature, relative humidity, air purity and speed, suitable lighting. In this way it will be possible to process statistics and analyzes and to send “alerts” in order to provide assistance in real time. In this framework, support for the maintenance of the user’s cognitive abilities is also grafted, which can determine safety and independence in the case of neurodegenerative diseases. The well-being characteristics of the intervention environments will be the object of experimental measurements. Let ITIS (end user), which the Educating Community (partner), propose their own structures as testers, as they are very sensitive to the comfort and wellbeing of their users, and very active in the field of energy efficiency. The proposal that is mainly characterized by the combination of the structural element linked to an intelligent and interactive system to control the parameters of an environment and the clinical element of evaluation of the host response to these variations is an element of novelty for the market.

Valore progetto: € 599.758,48
Contributo ammesso: € 577.716,32
Contributo concesso: € 0

HI-BUS 4.0

HPC and IoT for the breast units 4.0

Capofila: O3 ENTERPRISE SRL
Partner: GLANCE VISION TECHNOLOGIES SRL, SPIN SPA
Università: UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI TRIESTE, UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI UDINE

Breast cancer is the most frequent neoplasm and causes the greatest number of deaths in the female population. Recent studies show that patients have a higher survival rate and a better quality of life when treated in structures called Breast Units than in non-specialized facilities.
The Breast Units are used for the complete treatment of breast cancer and cover in a multidisciplinary diagnostic analysis and treatment. They are not always a single structure (structural modality) but are made up of services located on different sites that create a single assistance path specialized in diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation and controls (functional modality). The activity can be carried out in physically separate, but connected and integrated structures, which work as if they were a single entity (Hub and Spoke). This integration is substantial from the point of view of medical assistance, but presents discontinuity in the management and sharing of information of individual specialties, as well as the homogeneity of access to medical information technology tools.
HI-BUS 4.0 intends to introduce a support for the multidisciplinary and collaborative management of Breast Unit activities (regardless of their model): an innovative technological platform for the integrated IT management of clinical data and images, structured on the basis of the Therapeutic Diagnostic Path Assistance (PDTA), which today suffers from a lack of maturity of information media, still limited in application and fragmented (FIASO, 2014). The project intends to solve some gaps in terms of IT functionality, implementing a tool that promotes quality and effectiveness of services (screening), tertiary care and prevention (follow up), through highly technological, experimental and interconnected solutions: machine learning methods for images and reports implemented on “Green” High Performance Computing (HPC) systems in the cloud, IoT, correlation between heterogeneous clinical data through a translational approach. The project is part of the Revolution of Industry 4.0, an approach that is radically transforming industrial production thanks to: big and open data, IoT, cloud, HPC, analytics, human-machine interaction languages.

Valore progetto: € 912.376,05
Contributo ammesso: € 912.376,05
Contributo concesso: € 0

IKARO

un Innovativo Kit diagnostico wearable basato su Advanced image pROcessing e deep learning

Capofila: SWISSTECH SRL
Partner: VONINO ITALIA SRL
Università: UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI UDINE

Valore progetto: € 310.299,00
Contributo ammesso: € 306.383,00
Contributo concesso: € 0