making microbiology easy

MiMédi project

New technological solutions for optimizing the production of "Drug Cells"

CONTEXT

Advanced Therapy Medical Products (ATMPs) recently emerged in order to provide new therapy solutions for patients in therapeutic impasse or for new therapies. These ATMPs rely on the use of “drug cells” exhibiting new physiological functions, biological characteristics or reconstitution properties directly inspired from natural processes occurring in the human organism. However, fabricating these products implies using complex technologies of cell sorting, amplification, gene transduction, division and/or activation. These requirements should be met throughout the fabrication process in specific clean-room like facilities. Due to these fabrication constraints, producing such ATMPs is extremely expensive. For an easier access to ATMPs, a new production concept is required.

PROJECT

The MiMédi project aims at proposing such new fabrication concepts (MiMédi: French acronym for “Microtechniques pour les médicaments innovants”). The goal is to associate competences in microfabrication (microfluidics, acoustics, optics, automation, micro and nano technologies) and know-how in tomorrow’s personalized medicine in a freestanding enclosure which can be placed at the patient’s bed. The idea is to automate the fabrication in a closed system which integrates the different fabrication steps. This should ensure reproducible processes at a much lower cost, in a fully secure way. Practically in this bioreactor, cells samples from a patient will be treated, modified and multiplied before being re-injected to this particular patient.

PERSPECTIVES

This major regional project aims at optimizing the production of ATMPs in order to reduce their price. These new personalized therapies could be proposed as an alternative or in conjunction with current chemical approaches. MiMédi should make ATMPs more easily available for patients. Once placed on the market, they will help more efficiently control serious dangers to public health like cancers, inflammatory diseases or tissue repair by producing them at the patient’s bed.

DURATION & FUNDING

The MiMédi project, which involves 9 regional partners (5 companies, 3 laboratories and 1 transfer body), is part of the Smart Specialization Program and more specifically its “microsystems for health” sub-program. Mimédi was launched in 2017 for a 5 years and one month duration. The global cost of the project is 15 044 279,35€ and 11 283 209,47€ are provided by the European FEDER program and the Regional Innovation Fund.

PARTNERS