Following the call 37 launched by BioWin, the Gloria project is the result of a consortium between the coordinating company Eonix, in partnership with two other companies, Comunicare Solutions and Kedroz, and the universities UCLouvain and UMons.
Eonix, Comunicare Solutions, Kedroz, UCLouvain and UMons, working together as a consortium, have been granted EUR 3.2 million in funding from Wallonia as part of a call for projects launched by BioWin, the health cluster of Wallonia. Their project, Gloria (Global Rapid and Innovative DNA Analysis), set to run for 48 months with a total budget of 4.2 million euros, aims to develop a secure platform to enable citizens to store their digital DNA, opening the door to advanced analyses of complex common diseases and certain rare diseases.
Today, the emergence of genetic tests and falling costs make it possible to inform anyone about their propensity to develop a pathology, as well as the means of reducing the probability of its occurrence (primary prevention), its extent (secondary prevention) and the most effective treatments. However, a growing number of genetic tests are ordered directly over the Internet, and studies show an increase in tests carried out by Europeans on platforms located outside Europe. The quality of these online tests is questionable, and without a secure framework, there is a real risk that parallel and recreational medicine will develop, without the supervision of health professionals.
The project called “GLORIA – Global Rapid and Innovative DNA Analysis” emerged from collaborations between healthcare experts who share the vision to develop patient-centered solutions for the benefit of personalised medicine. Their mutual ambition is to create the first European platform to provide citizens with a secure vault in which to store their digital DNA, enabling analyses to be carried out using computer-based risk profiling tools for complex common diseases and certain rare diseases.
“Storing DNA in databases reflects our commitment to helping patients on a daily basis, as well as archiving our genetic information for future generations,” explains Aloys du Bois d’Aische, co-founder of Eonix.
Such a platform based in Wallonia is in line with the Smart Specialisation Strategy (S3) and more particularly with the roadmap of the Strategic Innovation Domain (DIS2 ), “Innovations for enhanced health” set up by the Walloon government and the Strategic Innovations Initiative (IIS) MedReSyst.
The consortium is delighted with this upcoming technology: “The funding will enable the creation of a new company at the end of the project, as well as maintaining around 40 direct and indirect jobs in Wallonia. What’s more, thanks to a business model that is independent of reimbursements from regional or national social security systems, this project will facilitate rapid international deployment.”
Contacts
Eonix : Aloys du Bois d’Aische – adb@eonix.be
Comunicare Solutions : Alfred Attipoe – a.attipoe@comunicare.be
Useful links
Eonix: https://eonix.be/
Comunicare Solutions: https://www.comunicare.be/
Kedroz: https://stent.care
UCLouvain: https://uclouvain.be/
UMons: https://web.umons.ac.be/en/
Gloria: https://biowin.org/2023/10/05/gloria/
The call 42 is open
Are you an industrial company? An academic laboratory? A research center? Are you keen to set up an innovative collaborative project? With at least 4 partners? Do you have a project idea and are looking for partners? For funding?
The BioWin team has a well-established mechanism, to help you transform your project idea into a solid proposal. One that meets the criteria of the regional authorities through consolidation, critical review, and project monitoring.
You have until 19 January 2024 to send us your letter of intent.
Do you have a question? Do not hesitate to contact our R&I team:
Loïc Germain
+32 472 65 43 02
loic.germain@biowin.org
Marianne Ghyoot
+32 484 90 47 12
marianne.ghyoot@biowin.org
Thierry Ferain
+32 486 49 91 92
thierry.ferain@biowin.org
About BioWin
BioWin is the health cluster in Wallonia, Belgium, the regional reference for all stakeholders in health, biotech and medtech research and innovation projects. It includes 250 members from the private, public and academic sectors.
Its mission is to accelerate innovation to meet tomorrow’s public health challenges and develop the knowledge, employment and competitiveness of all players in the health sector ecosystem, by bringing together all the innovation players in Wallonia’s life sciences field, with the goal of stimulating regional economic redeployment. The cluster is also involved in implementing the sector’s industrial policy (industrial innovation and research, training, support for business growth), to develop and anchor skills, knowledge and jobs.
