PANC-CKI Consortium led by CasInvent Pharma Secures €4M Eurostars Grant for Pancreatic Cancer Research
October 1, 2024. The PANC-CKI consortium, led by the Czech biotech, CasInvent Pharma, has been awarded a €4M Eurostars grant for a project entitled 'Developing a Novel Casein Kinase 1 Inhibitor for Pancreatic Cancer Treatment: An AI-Integrated Approach.' The project aims to validate CI-CK1i, a new inhibitor targeting casein kinase 1 (CK1), for the treatment of pancreatic cancer patients who urgently need new treatment options.
The Casein Kinase 1 inhibitor developed by CasInvent Pharma effectively and selectively blocks all three isoforms of CK1, enhancing responses to ongoing treatments like chemotherapy and reducing tumor growth as a single agent. CasInvent Pharma, in collaboration with its international partners, achieved outstanding success in the 6th call of this program with the PANC-CKI consortium. The consortium will conduct Proof-of-Concept studies to generate a data package for initiating IND/CTA studies. PANC-CKI consortium employs a completely novel drug development, process synergistically combining cutting-edge technologies including creation of digital twin using AI/ML (Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning) technologies with rapid screening of drug combination using state-of-the-art cancer patient-derived organoids at the University of Bern (Prof. Marianna Kruithof-de Julio). Safety testing will be performed by a new organs-on-chip technology developed by Alveolix (Switzerland).
"We see the success of CasInvent Pharma in the Eurostars programme as further proof of the excellent potential of our platform and its ability to be successful internationally. In addition, the association with our partners opens a new chapter in our research, which will focus on treatment options for pancreatic cancer, one of the most aggressive and difficult to treat diseases," says Alexander Scheer (CEO) from CasInvent Pharma.
“Deeplife is optimistic about advancing this CK1 inhibitor to tackle pancreatic cancer, a currently hopeless disease” says Jonathan Baptista (CEO) from DeepLife, (France)
Eurostars is the largest international funding programme for SMEs wishing to collaborate on R&D projects that create innovative products, processes or services for commercialisation. CasInvent Pharma, in collaboration with its international partners, achieved outstanding success in the 6th call of this program. Competing among participants from 37 countries, CasInvent Pharma received an exceptional score of 51 out of 54 from the international evaluation panel. The project ranked 1st in the Czech Republic, Switzerland, and France. Such a great outcome among European competition underlines the potential of the CK1 inhibitors and creates a momentum for our ongoing fundraising activities of CasInvent to bring our drug to the patients as soon as possible.
Contact for media: Alexander Scheer, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., +33 78 40 43 43
ABOUT THE COMPANIES
Lead project partner:
CasInvent Pharma is a drug discovery spin-off company established in 2020 by Masaryk University and biotech incubator i&i Prague. The mission of the company is to develop new therapeutic options for the treatment of resistant tumors. The CasInvent platform is based on the use of proprietary, best-in-class highly selective inhibitors of enzymes belonging to the casein kinase 1 (CK1) family that are responsible for the regulation of different cellular mechanisms leading to resistance to targeted therapies. For more information, visit www.casinvent.com or contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Other Partners:
University of Bern (UBERN): The Urology Research Laboratory at the Department for BioMedical Research of UBERN conducts advanced research in patient-derived organoids and possesses a collection from various cancer types such as prostate, bladder, and renal cell carcinoma to understand cancer biology. UBERN has demonstrated the translational potential of patient-derived organoids and is currently engaged in clinical studies. For more information, visit www.unibe.ch or contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
AlveoliX AG: AlveoliX AG: AlveoliX, a leader in organs-on-chip technology, is expanding its impact with the patented AXBarrier-on-Chip System, a platform enabling advanced safety and efficacy models for pre-clinical testing. Its current AXBiomodel portfolio includes validated lung and intestine models, with kidney and bladder models in development. AlveoliX’s participation in the interdisciplinary grant will enable the company to enter the fast-growing oncology market, supporting cancer drug development with more precise, predictive pre-clinical models. For more information, visit www.alveolix.com or contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
DeepLife: DeepLife, a Paris-based biotech company founded in 2019, uses multi-omics data, machine learning, and systems engineering to accelerate drug discoveries. Its AI technology creates digital twins of human cells, enabling rapid evaluation of drug responses, deciphering mechanisms, and identifying biomarkers and targets. DeepLife collaborates on identifying new targets and drug repositioning projects with this technology. For more information, visit DeepLife.com or contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..