CANTOL

Development and validation of new molecules to restore the immune response against cancer cells

Immunotherapy, based on therapeutic vaccination against antigens expressed by cancer cells, is at the present time a very promising approach. Its application is limited, however, due to mechanisms of immune suppression that are critical to control in order to obtain a therapeutic effect on large numbers of patients. The focus of the CANTOL project is to discover and validate innovative drug candidates to inhibit the immune suppression due to the activity of indoleamine 2,3 dioxygenase (IDO), expressed in the tumours. The project integrates:

• A program to discover IDO inhibitors by virtual screening based on the crystalline structure of IDO and by traditional in vitro screening of a library of small molecules.
• A study of IDO inhibitors in selected animal models to validate their application to various pathologies.