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Historical programming period — scheme no longer open to new applications

Logo Brenus Pharma: developing a cancer immunotherapy with Eurostars funding

Brenus Pharma: developing a cancer immunotherapy with Eurostars funding

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes· Santé & pharmacie

How a Lyon-based biotech and a Swiss company specialized in 3D cell models obtained €1.5M in grants to develop and test a new immunotherapy against colorectal cancer, through the Eurostars programme.

Funding obtained

€1,500,000

Total project cost

€1,600,000

Instrument

Grant

The company

Brenus Pharma is a biotechnology company based in Lyon, specialized in cellular immunotherapies against solid tumors. It develops a technology platform called STC (Stimulated Tumor Cells), an allogeneic approach (using donor cells, rather than the patient's own).

InSphero AG is a Swiss company based in Schlieren, specialized in 3D cell models, biological assays and organ-on-a-chip technologies, used to study biological responses under conditions closer to human physiology.

The partnership is based on clear complementarity: Brenus contributes its cancer immunotherapy platform, InSphero contributes its three-dimensional cell culture and tumor modeling technologies.

The initial need

Brenus needed to validate the efficacy of its immunotherapy candidate STC-1010 under biological conditions closer to human reality than a conventional two-dimensional cell model, before moving to subsequent clinical stages. This 3D tumor modeling expertise did not exist in-house, hence the recourse to an international partnership.

  • Develop a more representative three-dimensional tumor model.
  • Preclinically assess the efficacy of the STC-1010 immunotherapy.
  • Access complementary technological expertise abroad.
  • Reduce technological risk ahead of clinical stages.

The funded project

The project is listed by the Eureka network under the name Allogenix (Eurostars-3 call, Call 2, project no. 1364), also presented by the companies under the title « STC-1010: A First-in-Class Allogeneic Cell Vaccine Against Cancer ». Both names refer to the same collaboration between Brenus and InSphero.

Conventional two-dimensional cell models imperfectly reproduce the complexity of a tumor and its microenvironment. The project aimed to develop a three-dimensional model better able to reproduce these biological conditions and assess the efficacy of therapeutic candidates. The work focused in particular on developing a 3D tumor model, reproducing the environment of cancer cells, preclinical assessment of the STC-1010 immunotherapy, and improving the reliability of efficacy tests.

STC-1010 targets metastatic colorectal cancer.

  • Development of a 3D tumor spheroid model (vitrified, ready-to-use).
  • Preclinical potency testing of the STC-1010 immunotherapy.
  • Cryopreservation work on cell models.

Funding plan

Total cost

€1,600,000

Public funding

€1,500,000

The €1.6M corresponds to the project cost stated by Eureka at the application stage (not a final amount of certified expenses). The €1.5M in grants is the cumulative amount announced for the French-Swiss partnership, funded by Eurostars, Bpifrance (on the French side) and Innosuisse (on the Swiss side). Public documentation does not give the exact breakdown between Brenus's share and InSphero's share: €750,000 should therefore not be attributed to each company.

The scheme used

Eurostars (a programme of the intergovernmental Eureka network, co-funded by Horizon 2020/Horizon Europe), co-funded on the French side by Bpifrance and on the Swiss side by Innosuisse. Project officially launched on 1 November 2022, for a duration of 36 months (until the end of 2025). Coordinator: Brenus Pharma.

Results and outcomes

  • Achieved

    In June 2025, Brenus Pharma and InSphero announced they had developed ready-to-use, vitrified 3D tumor spheroids reproducing colorectal cancer conditions in vivo, and confirming the efficacy (potency testing) of STC-1010. These results were presented at the 2025 congress of the European Association for Cancer Research (EACR).

    2025-06-18 — source

  • Achieved

    In September 2025, Brenus Pharma announced the first patients dosed in its phase 1 trial evaluating STC-1010 (NCT06934538), with separate funding of about €5M from France 2030 (operated by Bpifrance) — a later and separate transaction from the Eurostars grant, not to be confused with it.

    2025-09-01 — source

Results are distinguished by nature (achieved, stated objective, forecast, estimate) — never presented as certain without this distinction.

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