Cancer treatment is a significant healthcare challenge, costing Europe up to €199 billion annually. The burden will grow substantially, with a projected 60% increase in cancer cases from 2018 to 2040. To address these challenges, the ScanNanoTreat consortium consisting of Claude Bernard Lyon 1 University, Maastricht University, Guerbet, Philips, and Inlecom Commercial Pathways is developing a revolutionary theranostic approach combining advanced photonics and nanotechnology. The innovative system integrates Spectral Photon Counting Computed Tomography (SPCCT) with X-ray-activated Photodynamic Therapy (X-PDT) using gadolinium-based nanoprobes. This approach enables simultaneous imaging and treatment of solid tumours, with an initial focus on breast and pancreatic cancers. By leveraging low-energy X-rays and optimized nanoprobes, ScanNanoTreat aims to reduce radiation doses by over 30% compared to conventional radiotherapy. This technology is expected to radically shorten the diagnosis-treatment cycle, leading to improved prognosis and better patient outcomes, and up to 40% reduction in cancer treatment costs. If successfully deployed, ScanNanoTreat could revolutionize the European theranostic market, aiming to capture 10-17% of the projected €493 million market by 2032, suggesting a potential market size of €35-€60 million by 2035. The project will advance the technology from TRL 3 to TRL 5, preparing for clinical trials by 2027 and potential market entry by 2035. Additionally, a business plan and exploitation strategy will be developed, targeting a spinoff creation to commercialize the technology. The support of the EIC Transition grant is crucial to conduct preclinical studies, optimize the SPCCT system, and develop a comprehensive regulatory strategy. By addressing critical healthcare needs and aligning with EU strategic autonomy in MedTech, ScanNanoTreat will radically improve cancer care and contribute to the sustainability of European healthcare systems.

Motivated by an urgent need to mitigate climate change and, particularly, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from food value chains, REDWine focuses on the utilization of biogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) from the wine fermentation process for microalgae biomass production and valorisation. A powerful synergy across bio-based industries results in REDWine’s innovative circular business model, which allows wine manufacturers to efficiently treat their liquid and gaseous effluents while profitably diversifying their revenues through the valorisation of Chlorella biomass into multiple high-value ingredients. The REDWine concept will be realized through the establishment of an integrated ‘Living Lab’ demonstrating the technical and economic viability of a system for collection and storage of the off-gas and liquid effluents of a 20,000L wine fermenter and its adaptation to microalgae cultivation and energy efficient harvesting technologies, in order to use 90% of the CO2 collected, to produce biomass. REDWine will demonstrate a circular concept through the development of a simple biorefinery to be deployed in the winery which will yield sustainable and cost competitive ingredients for food formulations (protein and fatty acids), cosmetics (peptides, carotenoid rich oils and active polysaccharides), agriculture (carbohydrates as vine biostimulants) and wine production (proteins for wine clarification). The proposed REDWine solution is expected to reduce the GHG emissions of the entire wine production value chain by at least 31% while potentially generating over €15M in revenues and creating 45 new jobs for a 7ML size winery on a 3-year time horizon. REDWine is led by primary producers, the AVIPE wine producers’ association, in partnership with 11 other very committed entities, including 7 SMEs, 1 LE, 2 RTOs and 1 UNI. The proposed consortium assures the all the needed multidisciplinary knowledge and a level of redundancy required for effective implementation of the project.

TThe FuelGae project aims to develop a novel model of advanced liquid fuels (ALF) production from different CO2 emissions streams of two industrial sectors (biorefinery and energy intensive industries) through a microalgae pilot plant integrated into their infrastructure. The performance of the selected microalgae strains will be improved by adapting them to each industrial case study. The ALF production will be addressed developing different technologies: i) selective production of microalgae to obtain polysaccharides or lipids, ii) alternative microalgal biomass treatments, iii) innovative catalytic upgrading systems from biocrude., iv) online microalgae sensor. Additionally, to the previously innovative technologies, FuelGae concept uses modelling techniques integrated into Process Analytical Techniques to develop a global Digital Twin (DT). Furthermore, the C-economy of FuelGae approach will be significantly improved through hydrothermal liquefaction and, biogas processes. The biochar produced will be tested in agricultural uses creating synergies with energy and biocrude generation. All technologies will be upscaled to TRL5 in the two case study sites; the microalgae pilot plant will be transported and validated in the two industrial sites in Romania (steel plant) and Spain (2G-bioethanol). FuelGae technologies will be further evaluated through life cycle assessment (LCA/LCC) to confirm their lower environmental impact, use of resources, or GHG emissions, and a first approach of economical sustainability. DT will be coupled with LCA-LCC to provide a global and dynamic assessment of the FuelGae concept. FuelGae will contribute to advancing the European scientific basis and global technological leadership in the area of renewable fuels, increase their technology competitiveness and role in transforming the energy system on a fossil-free basis by 2050, in particular in the sectors like aviation and shipping, while supporting the EU goals for energy independence.

ETERNAL aims to contribute to sustainable development of pharmaceutical manufacture, use and disposal, by using and promoting full life cycle approaches covering design, manufacture, usage, and disposal, assessing the environmental risks of not only the API and residues/metabolites, but other chemicals and by-products of the production process. This type of approach is essential to take into consideration the types of green manufacturing approach under consideration by the pharmaceutical industry, as evidenced by the range and scope of case studies being undertaken within ETERNAL. Specific application of our risk and life cycle assessment approaches to the ETERNAL case studies is a key element of the proposed work and will provide industry and policymakers with key examples of how whole life cycle assessment may be used to evaluate the changes in environmental impacts expected due to the introduction of green manufacturing processes.

Vascular dementia and heart failure represent major health burden to morbidity, mortality and quality of life. Comorbidities (hypertension, aging, diabetes, etc.) affect all organs, but the brain and heart are especially sensitive to these chronic stresses resulting in cognitive impairment (a mental disorder) and heart failure (a non-mental disorder). These comorbidities also induce a reduction in microvascular density, called microvascular rarefaction. We have build a consortium, CRUCIAL, which will develop a coordinated program to investigate the role of microvascular rarefaction in cognitive impairment and heart failure. Diagnosis of microvascular rarefaction is limited by the inability to assess microvascular density. We will develop advanced imaging tools taking advantage of the newest MRI technology including non-contrast and artificial intelligence methods to assess brain and heart microvascular rarefaction. We will also develop other non-invasive measures that will be cheaper and easier to widely disseminate in clinical practice (sublingual and retinal microvascular imaging, and blood microvesicle analysis). We will then apply these techniques to prospective and retrospective patient cohorts with cognitive impairment and heart failure to demonstrate that rarefaction can be used as a biomarker to diagnose and stratify patients. Microvascular regression is now recognised as an active process. We will therefore investigate, through animal models, the molecular mechanism of vessel rarefaction in the presence of comorbidities that could be targeted therapeutically. Therapeutic options for cognitive impairment or heart failure are currently limited to treating co-morbidities. The aim of CRUCUAL is to deliver diagnostic tools to clinician and therapeutic pathways to pharma that target microvascular health in order to prevent cognitive and cardiac disease progression, reduce morbidity and ultimately improve quality of life for patients.