Cellix is successful grant recipient of FP7 Marie Curie Industry Academia Partnership and Pathways (IAPP) grant in the area of melanoma research co-ordinated by University College Dublin

18.11.2009

Dublin, 18 November 2009 – The European Commission recently awarded an FP7 Marie Curie Industry Academia Partnership and Pathways (IAPP) grant, termed Target-Melanoma, totalling €1,736,483 to Prof. William Gallagher’s group at University College Dublin.  The grant, which will run from 2009-2013, will be distributed between the consortium members comprising academic institutions and industrial organisations including the UCD Conway Institute, University College Dublin (Co-ordinator, Ireland), Cellix Ltd. (Ireland), Institut d'Investigacio Biomedica de Bellvitge (Spain), University of Maastricht (The Netherlands), University Hospitals and Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium), Swedish Human Proteome Resource and Uppsala University (Sweden), OncoMethylome Sciences (Belgium), SlidePath (Ireland) and OncoMark Ltd. (Ireland).

 “These funds will go toward ensuring we continue to dissect the molecular basis of melanoma progression, with a view towards translating this information for patient benefit.” commented Prof. William Gallagher, co-ordinator of Target-Melanoma. “In this wide-ranging project, we have assembled an integrated collection of complementary research groups across Europefrom both academic and industry sectors, which work closely together via intersectoral exchanges to mediate key new insights into this poorly understood disease”.

Cellix is a particularly useful partner in this project in that it will work closely with UCD to generate a novel flow culture model for extravasation, which will be a key tool to facilitate bridging between in vitro and in vivo studies”.

The main goals of the Target-Melanoma project are as follows;

• Identification of methylated genes involved in melanoma progression (benign nevi to metastases) and methylation profiling in clinical samples.
• Validation and functional interrogation of melanoma progression-associated genes via tissue microarray (TMA) technologies and in vitro analysis.

             “This is the second grant Cellix have received under the Marie Curie scheme following the successful completion of the “ASTHMA” project which ran from April 2006 to April 2009 and resulted in the development of Cellix’s VenaEC biochip” says Vivienne Williams, CEO, Cellix.  Further details of this grant and the outcomes may be found on Cellix’s website at http://www.cellixltd.com/Asthma_Grant/147 

 The Target-Melanoma project involves significant interplay between industrial, basic science and clinical spheres. By further developing and sharing combined sets of skills, as well as applying the latest developments in TMA, DNA methylation and in vitro techniques, this project aims to fast-track the validation of putative melanoma targets identified from transcriptomic screens.

 The Marie Curie IAPP funding is available for universities, research organisations, and businesses in the EU or Associated States to provide early-stage and experienced researchers with structured scientific or technological opportunities of between three months to three years. The main focus of the IAPP program is to mediate cross-sectoral exchanges between academic and industrial partners.

About Cellix Ltd

Cellix Ltd. is a privately held instrumentation and cell-based assay company developing technologies that accurately mimic in vivo human blood vessels under physiological flowfor cell-based screening in drug discovery.  The Company is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, and maintains offices in New York City.  For further information visit www.cellixltd.com