Inovative Health Initiative

The GUIDE.MRD project addresses a significant challenge in cancer treatment, focusing on patients diagnosed with early-stage cancer who undergo surgery to remove tumors. A critical issue in post-surgery care is determining whether the patient has minimal residual disease (MRD), indicating cancer cells may have spread beyond the initial tumor. This determination is crucial as unnecessary additional treatments, such as chemotherapy or radiotherapy, can cause harmful side effects, while failing to treat MRD can lead to cancer recurrence and spread. Unfortunately, current imaging technologies lack the sensitivity to detect MRD, underscoring the need for more effective diagnostic methods.

GUIDE.MRD aims to solve this problem by developing and standardizing blood tests that can detect circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) fragments, which are small pieces of tumor DNA shed into the bloodstream. These tests, although in existence, vary in their detection levels and lack publicly available details about their operations, making it challenging to assess their accuracy. GUIDE.MRD’s goal is to establish standards for ctDNA tests, benchmark existing tests against these standards, and then use the most promising tests in clinical trials. By comparing the accuracy of ctDNA blood tests with clinical outcomes, the project intends to identify the most reliable tests. These will then be employed as tools to assist doctors and patients in choosing the most appropriate treatment, based on individual situations. This approach is expected to greatly enhance patient care and treatment decision-making in cases of lung, pancreatic, and colorectal cancers.

IDERHA (Integration of Heterogeneous Data and Evidence towards Regulatory and HTA Acceptance) is a groundbreaking European public-private partnership launched in April 2023, focusing on overcoming the challenges in accessing, integrating, and analysing health data. The project aims to enhance patient care and medical research by building a scalable platform for the seamless integration or linkage of diverse real-world data. This initiative is expected to support healthcare professionals, patients, and researchers, providing them with new capabilities for improving patient outcomes. By enabling better treatment and disease management, personalizing care, and fostering research innovation through the development of common standards and practices, IDERHA is set to make significant contributions to the healthcare sector.

As a part of the Europe Beating Cancer Plan, IDERHA’s mission includes using artificial intelligence and machine learning to link and analyze various human health data. This effort is particularly focused on improving early detection of lung cancer and enhancing the quality of life for those affected by the disease. Additionally, IDERHA is tasked with demonstrating the added value of a data-driven approach in clinical co-decision making and personalized disease management. The project also aligns with the European Health Data Space (EHDS) initiative, aiming to build one of the first pan-European health data spaces. IDERHA’s role extends to accelerating policy development to facilitate regulatory approvals and Health Technology Assessments (HTA), effectively supporting the implementation of novel health solutions. Funded through the Innovative Health Initiative (IHI), a public-private partnership between the EU and European life science industries, IDERHA is at the forefront of transformative health research and innovation.