Project led by lecturer José Miguel Lizcano awarded RETOS collaboration grant

The research project, focused on the effects of the drug ABTL0812 in combination with immunotherapy, received 1,870,000 euros in funding by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities within its RETOS collaboration programme.

13/09/2018

A research project headed by researcher at the UAB Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and at the Institute of Neuroscience José Miguel Lizcano received 1,870,000 euros in funding by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, as part of its RETOS collaboration programme.

The objective of this research project is to study the effects of the anti-tumour drug ABTL0812 in combination with immunotherapy to treat cancers. ABTL0812 was developed by AbilityPharma in collaboration with the UAB Research Park and Dr. Lizcano's research group. The drug is currently in Clinical Phase 2 for its use in combination with chemotherapy, to treat patients suffering from advanced endometrial and squamous lung cancer. This project will consist in a preclinical study to evaluate its efficiency in animal models when it is administrated in together with immunotherapy. "We have been working for several years in collaboration with AbilityPharma developing ABTL0812, which is a very promising drug. This project will allow us continue exploring its efficiency in aggressive cancers", Dr. Lizcano says.

The aim of this call for grants was to promote collaborations between research groups and companies with the goal of finding innovative solutions to current problems. The project will be developed with the Vall d’Hebron Research Institute, the Biomedical Research Institute of Lleida, the biopharmaceutical company AbilityPharma and the UAB Research Park.