Philips-led consortium awarded 6.3 M€ H2020 grant, Stilla to develop high-plex liquid biopsy panels with new multi-color dPCR system.

Stilla is proud to be part of a Philips-led consortium that has been awarded a Horizon 2020 EU research grant totalling EUR 6.3 million to develop integrated approaches for personalized cancer treatment.

The four-year research project, ‘Liquid biopsies and IMAging for improved cancer care’ (LIMA), aims to increase the accuracy of both genetic and functional characterization of primary breast cancer and rectal cancer by combining two diagnostic technologies: advanced blood tests called liquid biopsy and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). The clinical research studies will be carried out at the University Medical Center of Utrecht (UMC Utrecht) in the Netherlands, and the Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale in France (INSERM).

Within LIMA, Stilla will develop and test the benefits of high-plex digital PCR panels for breast and rectal cancer:

“Today, we know that increasing the number of detection channels in digital PCR is a reliable approach to increase the multiplexing power of digital PCR assays, and that developing such color-based multiplexed assays is rather straightforward. With LIMA, we have the opportunity not only to develop high-plex liquid biopsy panels, with 10 or more distinct targets detected and quantified in each panel, but more importantly to identify which information is clinically relevant” explained Magali Droniou, director of Applications Development at Stilla Technologies.

Indeed, the LIMA study is unique in that it integrates multiple characterization methods. “Combining genetic and functional characterizations makes sense to get the most meaningful analysis of a patient’s disease. We believe that digital PCR will be one of the necessary tools in this integrated approach.” said Rémi Dangla, CEO at Stilla.