Theradiag, Croissy-Beaubourg and Montpellier, France, has been selected by the Eurostars 2 program to receive financial support for its Pioneer collaborative project with South Korean partners at Asan Medical Center and CbsBioscience.

The project’s purpose is to develop two tests for rectal cancer based on circulating microRNA biomarkers and tissue messenger RNA (mRNA). It seeks to improve clinical practices and enable a better evaluation of the response to preoperative chemoradiotherapy treatment, in order to apply the best therapeutic choice for the patient and thus increase their chances of entering remission.

Theradiag, Asan Medical Center, and CbsBioscience hope to develop an innovative system combining two tests—one based on the signature of circulating microRNA biomarkers, the other on the identification of tissue mRNA markers. The €2.2 million (approximately $2.3 million) 3-year project will be partly funded by the Eurostars program, and will help validate specific new markers via the recruitment of a cohort of more than 300 patients.

The total subsidy represents €1.3 million (approximately $1.4 million), with approximately €300,000 ($316,500) allocated for Theradiag.

Michel Finance, Theradiag.

Michel Finance, Theradiag.

“The Pioneer project was ranked 20th out of the 331 projects examined, which illustrates its technological quality and its substantial scientific and commercial appeal,” says Michel Finance, CEO of Theradiag. “It represents another milestone in our development in the field of rectal cancer. It will help strengthen the work already accomplished in this area, and will potentially open up new international markets to us.”

The Eurostars program, jointly funded by Eureka-participating states and partner countries and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 program, supports innovative small- and medium-sized enterprises involved in European or partner-country collaborative projects, and focuses primarily on companies performing research and development.

For more information, visit Theradiag.