Innovation in biotechnology requires long-term investment in research, technology development and collaboration. Imuno Therapeutics is grateful for the support of regional, national and European innovation programmes that contribute to scientific excellence, innovation and sustainable economic growth. Imuno Therapeutics participates in the STRIPE (Slimme Tumor-targeting met Receptor Immunotherapie via Peptide-antibody Engineering) project, supported by the Kansen voor West programme and co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).

STRIPE aims to facilitate the preclinical development of safer, more effective and more affordable immunotherapies, with the ambition of making innovative cancer treatments more broadly accessible to patients. The project focuses on identifying and validating new immune targets that are uniquely present on the surface of tumour cells, particularly tumour cells that have developed resistance to existing immunotherapies. Within the project, Imuno Therapeutics is developing a qualitative and quantitative analysis platform for target discovery. This platform enables the systematic identification and prioritisation of potential tumour-specific targets from a large pool of candidates. The most promising targets will subsequently be investigated as potential targets for the development of highly specific antibodies for cancer immunotherapy, including applications in lung and pancreatic cancer.

A further objective of STRIPE is to develop and validate tumour-specific T-cell engager (TCE) therapies directed against the identified targets. Candidate antibodies will be evaluated using human tumour tissue ex vivo to assess their potential therapeutic activity and tumour specificity. The project also aims to establish a patient-specific tumour characterisation and testing platform, enabling potential targets and therapeutic responses to be assessed directly in patient-derived tumour tissue. By using human tumour material, this approach can provide more clinically relevant insights into the potential efficacy and safety of novel therapies and may contribute to reducing reliance on animal models in preclinical development.

Through collaboration between Imuno, Vitroscan and Erasmus Medical Centre, STRIPE strengthens the research and innovation capacity of the medical development pipeline in West Netherlands and Europe. The project contributes to addressing the growing societal challenge of cancer by supporting the development of innovative approaches that can accelerate the translation of scientific discoveries into new oncological immunotherapies.

Imuno Therapeutics gratefully acknowledges the support of Kansen voor West and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).