OSEO gives grant towards Oncodesign’s €24.7 M cancer biomarker project

Development grant

Université de Bourgogne spin-out Oncodesign of Dijon has said that the French innovation agency, OSEO, will provide more than 40 per cent of the funding for its IMAkinib oncology biomarker development programme, which will have a total cost of around €24.7 million over eight years.

Oncodesign is heading the project in collaboration with two partners, Guerbet, which is responsible for developing radiotracers and clinical trials for the biomarkers, and Institut Pasteur  spin-out Ariana Pharmaceuticals, which will carry out the analysis of chemical and biological data.

The aim of IMAkinib is to develop specific biomarkers to rationalise cancer treatments and measure their efficacy. “The development will take place while we work on lead optimisation programmes for kinase inhibitors for our pharmaceutical customers,” said Philippe Genne, Oncodesign CEO.

The result will be that any drug that makes it through to approval will reach the market with an associated diagnostic test for identifying patients that are likely to respond. “The programme will be a cornerstone of our strategy, which we started a year ago, to become a key player in therapeutic and diagnostic oncology discovery over the next three years,” said Genne.

The OSEO financing comes as part of France’s ISI programme for strategic industrial innovation, Innovation Stratégique Industrielle. “We were totally convinced by the quality and originality of the IMAkinib project, which will fill a large therapeutic gap in clinical oncology,” said François Drouin, president of OSEO. “Our mission is to finance innovation and the growth of SMEs and IMAkinib is a perfect example.”