Innovative therapy against aggressive cancers wins Bluepharma | University of Coimbra Innovation Award
The 2023 winner is a project for an innovative therapy with high clinical benefit (in terms of efficacy and safety) for cancer patients, led by Lucília Saraiva from the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto.
The winning project of the Bluepharma | University of Coimbra 2023 Innovation Award has been announced. The project, led by Lucília Saraiva from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Porto, focuses on an innovative therapy with high clinical benefits for cancer patients in terms of efficacy and safety. It was selected from 18 competing proposals.
The research team developed, characterized, and patented a new anticancer drug candidate that is the first to inhibit the interaction between the BRCA1 and BARD1 proteins. By disrupting this interaction, the compound causes the collapse of the DNA repair pathway, leading to the selective death of cancer cells, which are marked by genomic instability due to errors in the DNA repair process.
The uniqueness of this compound lies in its effectiveness in cases of high resistance to standard therapy used in the clinic. It has proven to be a real breakthrough in the treatment of aggressive cancers such as pancreatic, triple-negative breast, ovarian, and advanced-stage prostate cancers," explains Lucília Saraiva.
"This compound will represent a new therapy with significant clinical benefits for cancer patients in terms of efficacy and safety. We can also combine it with other cancer drugs to make it more effective and reduce the side effects," she adds.
The winning project will receive a cash prize of 20,000 euros, which could lead to an additional investment of 30,000 euros in the future, once the project's marketability has been confirmed.
The jury highlighted the originality, innovation, and potential value to society of the winning project.
The projects "Novel Approaches to Skin Pigmentation Modulation" and "Exploration of the Antibacterial Properties of a Surfactant-based Hydrogel", led by Miguel Seabra and Otília Vieira respectively, received honourable mentions at the ceremony held on 11 June in the Senate Hall of the University of Coimbra (UC).
The Bluepharma | University of Coimbra Innovation Award rewards innovative scientific research of excellence every two years, in the field of health sciences.
