Projet ACINETWORK (Horizon Europe, appel à projets 2022)
Action : Doctoral Networks
Panel : Chemistry
Statut du projet : SIGNED

Bacterial infections are a societal burden with profound medical and socio-economic impacts. Although antibiotics can be effective, the continuous emergence of bacteria with antimicrobial resistance calls for the introduction of novel therapeutics. In this regard, glycoconjugate vaccines (GV) hold a prominent role in the fight against AMR bacterial strains. They are based on the chemical conjugation of one or more pathogen-associated saccharide antigens to immunogenic carriers, leading to a long-term protective immunity. ACINETWORK will focus on the development of GV against severe and life-threatening infections caused by antimicrobial resistant Acinetobacter baumannii strains, which are a major cause of nosocomial diseases and for which no vaccine exists. ACINETWORK wants to overcome the limitations of currently licensed GV, due to highly heterogeneous composition and batch wise variability, by innovatively using structurally-defined synthetic oligosaccharide antigens to develop GV with well-defined composition, higher purity and better safety profiles. The manufacturing of such GV is also more rapid and cost-effective. Thus, this project will set synthesis and testing pipelines that will serve as the prototype for the development of GV against other bacteria. The ACINETWORK consortium comprises universities and SMEs with a unique complementary expertise, ranging from carbohydrate chemistry to nanotechnology, immunology and microbiology, which garantees the realization of the new GV. The goal of ACINETWORK is to also forge 10 young experts in the design of these novel medical solutions with an integrated training program, which will equip them with a large battery of scientific and transferable skills. The multidisciplinarity of the consortium ensures a fertile and stimulating environment in which these young researchers will acquire unique competencies in vaccine design, development and production, which will be central at putting Europe at the forefront of GV.

Mots clés : synthetic organic chemistry, automated synthesis, glycoconjugates, polymeric nanoparticles, gold nanoparticles, monoclonal antibodies, immunology, vaccines, acinetobacter baumannii

Participants :
- Glycouniverse gmbh & co. kommanditgesellschaft auf aktien (Allemagne) — Partner, beneficiary, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 260539.2 €
- Associazione hand in hand (Italie) — Partner, associated partner, Autres, subvention : 0.0 €
- Université d'Aarhus (Danemark) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 603576.0 €
- Idea75 srl (Italie) — Partner, associated partner, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 0.0 €
- Centre for Cooperative Research in Biomaterials (Espagne) — Partner, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 251971.2 €
- Université de Montpellier (France) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (France) — Partner, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 282693.6 €
- Fratagene therapeutics srl (Italie) — Partner, associated partner, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 0.0 €
- Conseil national de la recherche (Italie) — Partner, associated partner, Recherche, subvention : 0.0 €
- Université de Florence (Italie) — Partner, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 259437.6 €
- Université du Pays basque (Espagne) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Attana (Sweden) (Suède) — Partner, associated partner, Organismes privés (hors enseignement), subvention : 0.0 €
- National University of Distance Education (Espagne) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €
- Institut de santé Carlos III (Espagne) — Partner, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 251971.2 €
- Université de Milan (Italie) — Coordinator, beneficiary, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 518875.2 €
- Société Max-Planck pour le développement des sciences (Allemagne) — Partner, beneficiary, Recherche, subvention : 260539.2 €
- Université libre de Berlin (Allemagne) — Partner, associated partner, Enseignement supérieur ou secondaire, subvention : 0.0 €