The European Innovation Council selects an international, multicenter project aimed at developing RNA vaccines against cancer

The European Innovation Council (EIC) has selected an international multicenter project in its EIC Pathfinder Open 2026 call for proposals, which aims to develop RNA vaccines against cancer

Dr. Puri Fortes, principal investigator at Cima Universidad de Navarra, leads this consortium, which includes the teams of Dr Juan Martínez at the Spanish biotechnology company Certest Biotec, Dr. Sebastiaan van Heesch at the Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology and Dr. Jonas Teuwen at the Netherlands Cancer Institute (Netherlands), and Dr. Andreas Schlosser at Goethe University Frankfurt (Germany)

With a budget of 3.8 million euros, the ADVANCE project is studying the use of targeted lipid nanoparticles loaded with RNA vaccines to treat hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common form of liver cancer and a tumor with a poor prognosis. The incidence is expected to exceed one million cases annually in the coming decade, due to rising rates of alcohol consumption and obesity.

Dark Antigens

“Although hepatocellular carcinoma can be treated at early stages through resection or liver transplantation, most cases are diagnosed at advanced stages, when treatment options are limited. Our project proposes a completely novel strategy that involves stimulating the immune system using ‘dark” antigens derived from small proteins. These peptides represent a source of tumor-specific antigens that have not yet been explored,” explains Dr. Fortes.

The project suggests that cellular stress in cancer could promote the selective translation of certain RNAs, thereby generating a unique set of tumor-specific peptides that are absent in healthy tissues.
“By applying advanced technology and artificial intelligence, we aim to design personalized RNA vaccines formulated in innovative ways.”

Application to Other Types of Cancer

As researchers explain, “our goal is to demonstrate a proof of concept for efficacy through preclinical in vitro and in vivo validation of a first-of-its-kind therapeutic lipid nanoparticle RNA vaccine that enhances cytotoxic T-cell responses and destroys cancer cells.”

The ADVANCE project aims to lay the groundwork for extending antigen discovery and RNA-based vaccination strategies to other hard-to-treat cancers and to advance their clinical application.