ILLUMINATE brings together private-public partners to advance novel theranostics-based cancer treatments

Euro-BioImaging is thrilled to be part of ILLUMINATE (Increasing Lutetium production while leveraging metabolic imaging to enhance theranostics effectiveness), a pioneering 54-month public-private partnership collaborative research program funded by the Innovative Health Initiative (IHI, https://www.ihi.europa.eu/apply-funding/ihi-call-5 ) that combines imaging technology development with both pre-clinical and clinical research. ILLUMINATE will provide the first clinical translation of Metabolic Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MeMRI), with application to castrate-resistant metastatic prostate cancer. This breakthrough could lead to earlier cancer detection and more effective treatments for various cancer types, new tools for medical professionals and new hope for patients.

With its two-pronged innovative approach, ILLUMINATE will significantly enhance the availability and use of theranostics across its value chain. First, the programme will contribute to improving imaging capabilities by implementing novel, highly effective and broadly applicable MeMRI, mainly based on 31P-, 2D- and CEST (Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer)-MRI, which are expected to improve insights into treatment responses, allowing better patient stratification and treatment personalisation. Secondly, ILLUMINATE will help fortify the availability of Lutetium-177 (Lu-177) by improving its manufacturing process and developing sustainable production methods to help meet the general need for radioisotope-based therapies in the EU. The ILLUMINATE consortium uses the example of Lu-177-PSMA as a showcase for broadly applicable innovative technologies in theranostics and radioisotope manufacturing for oncology.

"ILLUMINATE is the crowning of several years of behind-the-scenes efforts to bring together all the partners and connect the different stakeholders," explains Linda Chaabane, Euro-BioImaging Med-hub Director and one of the programme's architects, along with Prof. Dennis Klomp, is the coordinator of the Dutch High Field MR Node  (UMC Utrecht). ILLUMINATE is a collaborative effort that gathers 15 partners from five countries (Netherlands, Finland, Germany, Italy, and Sweden): six industrial partners (imaging instrumentation and pharma), three Euro-BioImaging Nodes (a second facility from the Dutch High Field MR Node, three facilities from the MMMI Node, Italy, and one facility from the NMI Node, Sweden), two research organisations and a project management company.

In ILLUMINATE, Euro-BioImaging contributes to Work Package 5, "Patient and Public Engagement & Education for Healthcare Professionals and Scientists", and Work Package 6 "Programme Management and Communications". Euro-BioImaging is leading Task 5.5 on "Educational activities and scientific dissemination", communicating the programme's achievements to healthcare professionals and scientists through available channels, including live events and online workshops serving as advanced training for end-users and researchers. Euro-BioImaging is also involved in  Task 6.4 "Communication and dissemination" and will enable the imaging modalities developed in the project to be accessible through the Euro-BioImaging web portal.

The programme's total budget is 21M€ (11.6M€ from the European Commission, 6.1M€ from industrial partners, and 3.6M€ from contributing partners), of which 4.6M€ are earmarked for the Nodes.

https://site.ihi-illuminate.org

https://www.ihi.europa.eu/projects-results/project-factsheets/illuminate