ERC Proof of Concept Grant for Martijn Verdoes

Martijn Verdoes, group leader Chemical Immunology at the department of Tumor Immunology, has been awarded an ERC Proof of Concept (PoC) Grant. The ERC PoC Grants are designed to support ERC grantees with the commercial or societal application of the results of their funded research.

The project with the title “CNECT-VAX, C- and N-terminal Epitope Conjugate immune cell Targeted Vaccines” aims to validate the technical and commercial feasibility of a new cancer vaccine platform that uses nanobodies targeting dendritic cells (DCs) to co-deliver antigens in vivo. The project is based on a novel molecular vaccine strategy that effectively delivers target antigens to DCs to concomitantly induce robust and synergistic CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses.

The ERC Proof of Concept is a part of the European Research Council (ERC) grants. The grants recognize the best ideas and talents, and thereby aiming to maximize the value of the excellent research that the ERC funds, and funding further work to verify the innovation potential of ideas arising from ERC-funded projects. They are very competitive, and requires an outstanding track record as an important factor of success.

Official press release ERC Europe: https://erc.europa.eu/news/erc-2021-proof-of-concept-grants-results