EIC beneficiaries in oncology: progress, promise and remaining hurdles

During the 2025 European Week Against Cancer the European Innovation Council community highlighted three projects that illustrate the range of technologies moving through Europe’s translational pipeline. Each combines a scientific concept with an ambition to reach patients, and each faces the familiar bottlenecks between promising early results and routine clinical use. The projects are Lattice Medical’s MATTISSE implant for post-mastectomy breast reconstruction, NETRIS Pharma’s NP137 therapeutic targeting Netrin-1 to address treatment resistance, and the PHIRE consortium’s intravesical gold nanorods for enhanced detection of residual bladder cancer.

Lattice Medical and MATTISSE: a 3D-printed, resorbable approach to breast reconstruction

Lattice Medical, founded in Lille in 2017, develops implants that combine biomaterials, tissue engineering and 3D printing to regenerate soft tissue. Its lead device MATTISSE is a 3D-printed, bioresorbable tissue engineering chamber intended to support natural tissue regrowth after mastectomy. The company positions the device as an alternative to silicone prostheses and multiple reconstructive surgeries, with a stated ambition to support roughly 40,000 women by 2030 within the EU market if clinical and regulatory milestones are met.

The company cites research showing around 40 percent of women with breast cancer undergo mastectomy while only a small proportion receive reconstructive surgery. That gap underscores an unmet need but also flags issues beyond device performance, including patient access, surgeon training, reimbursement and long-term follow-up. Bioresorbable implants bring potential advantages because they gradually degrade and allow native tissue to replace the scaffold. They also raise specific clinical questions about infection risk, how consistently the regenerated tissue maintains volume and shape, and how the body responds over years rather than months.

NETRIS Pharma and NP137: targeting Netrin-1 to restore immunotherapy sensitivity

NETRIS Pharma is a clinical-stage biotech spun out of the Centre Léon Bérard in Lyon. The company is developing NP137, a monoclonal antibody designed to neutralise Netrin-1, a molecule implicated in cancer cell survival, metastasis and resistance to therapies. NETRIS frames NP137 as a first-in-class agent intended to overcome mechanisms that blunt the effectiveness of immune checkpoint inhibitors and other treatments.

NETRIS’s ImmunoNET programme is funded under the EIC Accelerator blended finance mechanism. In April 2025 the company reported positive interim results from an ongoing Phase II proof-of-efficacy trial. The interim analysis reportedly confirmed an excellent safety profile and clinical benefit in about half of evaluated patients with head and neck cancers and non-small cell lung cancer who had developed secondary resistance to immunotherapy. NETRIS’s chief executive framed these results as a potential way to restore sensitivity to immunotherapy for patients with limited options.

Interim and subgroup analyses should be interpreted with care. Phase II results can be encouraging but are often not definitive. Larger randomized trials will be necessary to quantify benefit, identify which biomarker-defined patient populations gain most, and assess durability of responses. If subsequent studies confirm efficacy, the company will still face regulatory review and the challenge of integrating NP137 into complex treatment regimens that include chemotherapy, targeted agents and immunotherapy.

PHIRE at San Raffaele: photoacoustic imaging with gold nanorods for residual bladder cancer

The PHIRE project led by San Raffaele Hospital in Milan is developing a diagnostic approach for bladder cancer that pairs engineered gold nanorods, delivered intravesically, with photoacoustic imaging to visualise small lesions that conventional imaging misses. Bladder cancer is common worldwide and often recurs or leaves residual disease after treatment. Standard imaging and endoscopic tools can fail to detect very small or flat lesions, which contributes to suboptimal outcomes for a subset of patients.

PHIRE researchers published a study in Advanced Healthcare Materials reporting detection of residual bladder cancer lesions below 1 mm in size and arguing for cost-effectiveness and potential improvements in treatment outcomes from earlier detection. The project is supported by the EIC Transition instrument and the team projects significant market value across several related industries by 2028. Such market projections require scrutiny because they typically aggregate multiple device and service markets and assume successful clinical translation and commercial adoption.

Key translational issues for PHIRE include biocompatibility and safety of intravesical nanoparticles, clearance and persistence in the bladder, clinical validation in larger patient cohorts, and the integration of photoacoustic imaging hardware into urology practice where endoscopy and white light cystoscopy remain the norm. Clinical acceptance will also hinge on comparative studies showing improved diagnostic yield or changes in patient management that affect outcomes.

Quick comparison of the three projects

Context, caveats and what to watch next

All three programmes illustrate how EIC funding can de-risk early clinical and translational steps in Europe. The EIC Accelerator supports companies with grants and blended finance to scale innovations while EIC Transition helps move research results toward market readiness. These instruments can be effective when paired with strong clinical networks, industry partners and regulatory planning. That said, the path from a promising trial or preclinical paper to improved patient outcomes is long and uncertain.

For Lattice Medical the immediate next items to watch are safety data from the six month monitoring period, subsequent larger trials that assess efficacy and cosmetic outcomes, and progress toward CE marking and manufacturing scale-up. For NETRIS Pharma the crucial milestones are full Phase II data readouts, randomized trials that quantify benefit and identify predictive biomarkers, and regulatory planning for combination use with immune checkpoint inhibitors. For PHIRE the important steps are independent replication of the imaging results in larger cohorts, safety data for intravesical nanoparticles, and demonstration that detection of tiny residual lesions changes clinical management in a way that improves outcomes.

Conclusion

The three EIC-supported initiatives show the diversity of approaches being pursued in oncology across Europe, from regenerative implants to novel biologics and advanced imaging using nanotechnology. Each project has produced milestones that justify cautious optimism. However, stakeholders should temper enthusiasm with awareness of the technical, regulatory and commercial hurdles that remain. Continued funding, rigorous trials and clear regulatory strategies will determine whether these innovations translate into durable benefits for patients.

Further reading and sources

Primary details for these projects were reported by the European Innovation Council community during European Week Against Cancer 2025 and by press releases and publications from Lattice Medical, NETRIS Pharma and the PHIRE consortium. Additional context on regulatory and market pathways draws on standard EU medical device and drug development processes.