The announcement of the 17 winners of the fifth call for projects for university hospital research (RHU) was made by Olivier Véran, Minister of Solidarity and Health, Frédérique Vidal, Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, and Guillaume Boudy, Secretary General for Investment. This APP aimed to support translational health research or clinical research projects, which could be based on fundamental research in biology, epidemiology, social sciences or health economics.

The call for projects “University Hospital Research in Health” of the Future Investment Program, operated by the National Research Agency, aims to support innovative and large-scale research projects in the field of health. Focused on translational research, i.e. between basic research and clinical research, the RHU projects bring together academic, hospital and business players and have the possibility of receiving between €4 and €10M.

With this fifth call for RHU projects, the State continues to contribute to this effort to
structuring of health research teams. Indeed, by stimulating innovation and
facilitating hospital-university health research, the RHU action aims to create an ecosystem leading to the establishment of a sustainable and productive partnership between academic and industrial teams. It also aims to encourage the transfer of innovation into everyday medical practice, enabling it to improve patient care, understanding of diseases, and finding more effective and better tolerated treatments.

Previous editions of the RHU call for projects have confirmed that French research is capable of producing large-scale, high-quality translational research projects that closely combine research and care activities, with the support of industrial partners.

The 17 winners of the fifth FPA

Applicants to this fifth call for RHU projects had to demonstrate recognized expertise in pre-clinical research, pathophysiology, the creation and study of cellular or animal model systems, and the identification and validation of therapeutic targets and biomarkers. They should also have a high level of know-how in the constitution and exploitation of richly documented, highly stratified patient cohorts, associated with biological resource centers, and rapidly available for clinical studies.

The international jury examined 89 applications based on criteria of scientific quality,
innovation, but also on their potential for medical and socio-economic benefits. Seventeen projects were selected, covering a variety of therapeutic areas and medical needs, and will benefit from an exceptional €142 million in funding from the future investment program.

The winning projects are highly collaborative and involve 150 partners, including 28 healthcare institutions. Fifty-two partner companies will receive €32 million in funding, including €28 million for start-ups and SMEs.

These results demonstrate the excellence of French public biomedical research and, beyond that, its ability to propose innovations to improve patient care. Since 2015, the future investment program has funded 56 RHU projects, representing approximately €447M in aid.

List of winners

CASSIOPEIA

• Targeting cancer-associated fibroblasts to combat metastasis and treatment resistance in triple negative breast cancer
• Scientific Director: Mechta-Grigoriou Fatima
• City: Paris
• Funding awarded: €9,966,428

CONDOR

• Precision medicine and immunotherapy of sarcoma
• Scientific leader: Italiano Antoine
• City: Bordeaux
• Funding awarded: €9,801,144

COVIFERON

• Covid-19 and interferons: from discovery to therapy
• Scientific leader: Casanova Jean-Laurent
• City: Paris
• Funding awarded: €9,988,289

DELIVER

• Bringing therapeutic innovation to advanced liver diseases
• Scientific leader: Baumert Thomas
• City: Strasbourg
• Funding awarded: €6,660,393

Digital Urology 3D

• Augmented surgery for kidney cancer using digital and three-dimensional technologies
• Scientific leader: Bernhard Jean-Christophe
• City: Bordeaux
• Funding awarded: €6,122,736

ENDOVX

• New technologies for rapid and personalized management of aortic lesions
• Scientific leader: Haulon Stephan
• City: Paris
• Funding awarded: €7,587,640

EpCART

• Epigenetic reprogramming of CAR T cells in solid tumors
• Scientific leader: Amigorena Sebastian
• City: Paris
• Funding awarded: €9,920,937

FAME

• Improving the experience of families of intensive care patients
• Scientific director: Azoulay Elie
• City: Paris
• Funding awarded: €9,776,656

ICELAND

• Transcatheter mitral valve repair device incorporating a coaxial intra-cardiac ultrasound probe (ICE) to perform a direct mitral annuloplasty
• Scientific director : Vola Marco
• City: Lyon
• Grant amount: €5,529,116

IMMUNOLIFE

• Therapeutic interventions centered on the microbiota to circumvent primary resistance to lymphocyte checkpoint inhibitors in oncology
• Scientific director: Zitvogel Laurence
• City: Ville juif
• Funding awarded: €9,180,497

LySAIRI

• Radio-immunotherapy for lymphocyte sparing guided by artificial intelligence
• Scientific director: Deutsch Eric
• City: Villejuif
• Funding awarded: €9,380,152

OPERANDI

• Optimization and improvement of the efficacy of targeted therapies using radionuclides in digestive cancers by imagomics
• Scientific Director: Vilgrain Valérie
• City: Paris
• Funding awarded: €8,555,732

ORGANOMIC

• Patient-derived organoids for functional personalized medicine
• Scientific director: Jaulin Fanny
• City: Villejuif
• Funding awarded: €9,069,437

PrediMAP

• Development and clinical evaluation of an innovative medical device to predict premature delivery: from basic research to obstetrical emergencies
• Scientific director: Goffinet François
• City: Paris
• Funding awarded: €4,819,134

Primus

• Projection in multiple sclerosis
• Scientific director: Edan Gilles
• City: Rennes
• Funding awarded: €8,271,646

REVEAL

• Towards a more efficient and precise evaluation of the follow-up of patients with non-small cell lung cancer
• Scientific leader: Besse Benjamin
• City: Villejuif
• Funding awarded: €8,362,762

SMART

• Repair therapy for muscle atrophy in SMA
• Scientific leader: Schaeffer Laurent
• City: Lyon

In addition to the winning projects, the jury identified 11 promising projects that will be invited to approach their supervisors to implement the jury’s recommendations for improving the proposals.

Translated from Focus sur les 17 lauréats du cinquième APP destiné à la recherche Hospitalo-Universitaire en santé