The biopharmaceutical company Oniria Therapeutics, a member of Catalonia.health, is collaborating with the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology (VHIO) and the Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ) on the development of the innovative drug ONR-001, aimed at the treatment of treatment-resistant colorectal cancer. The project has secured more than €1.7 million in funding from the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities and the European Union, through the CPP 2024 programme.
The initiative will enable the regulatory preclinical phase of ONR-001 to be carried out and will advance its development up to the threshold of the first clinical trial in patients. The work includes validating the drug’s efficacy in colorectal cancer, developing the Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls (CMC) strategy, and conducting the preclinical studies required to demonstrate its safety.
ONR-001 is a pioneering therapy developed by Oniria Therapeutics to treat aggressive solid and haematological tumours that do not respond to current treatments. Its mechanism of action is based on the controlled hyperactivation of the TET2 enzyme to levels that are lethal for persistent tumour cells, an innovative strategy that has shown, in preclinical studies, significant inhibition of colorectal cancer progression, as well as of other tumours such as metastatic melanoma and acute myeloid leukaemia.
The project is part of a public-private consortium that combines academic, scientific and industrial expertise and strengthens the commitment to new therapeutic approaches based on precision medicine. In this regard, Esther Riambau, CEO and co-founder of Oniria Therapeutics, concluded: “The entire Oniria Therapeutics team is excited to see that this project will enable ONR-001 to reach Phase I clinical trials in 2027 and that we are progressing according to our business plan for it to become a new effective therapy for different tumours resistant to current treatments.”
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