According to the information obtained by the AA correspondent from TÜBİTAK, the 2027 call of the European Partnership for Personalized Medicine (EP PerMed) titled "Cell and Gene Therapies for Personalized Medicine Approach (CGT4PM2027)" has been opened for applications.
The call aims to support research projects aimed at the development of innovative cell and gene therapies for human health within the scope of personalized medicine approaches. Thus, it is expected that innovative treatments will be developed and validated that may offer higher efficacy, improved safety and longer-lasting effect compared to current standard treatments.
While solutions for previously untreatable diseases are planned to be addressed within this framework, approaches focusing on the underlying biological and genetic causes of diseases are supported to be associated with personalized medical practices and transferred to clinical practice.
Projects can be submitted from all disease areas.
In this regard, researchers will be able to propose projects in all disease areas. Applications will need to use at least one of the approaches for somatic cell, gene, combined cell and gene therapies or new biological products.
Studies on adding, changing or suppressing genes using stem cells, organoids and immune system cells for therapeutic purposes will be supported. Treatments developed with genetically modified cells before being applied to the patient may also be subject to the call.
Research on extracellular vesicles (vesicles) used as carriers in mRNA and other nucleic acid-based methods and gene-based therapies will also be supported.
The projects will use appropriate pre-clinical models such as human cell cultures, organoids, organ-on-a-chip systems or animal models, provide solid preliminary data and provide a feasible roadmap for transition to clinical practice. Studies on predicting treatment response and possible side effects, dose optimization, new production and application methods, and evaluation of safety and effectiveness can be included in projects, provided that a clear connection is established with personalized cell and gene therapies.
Projects will last a maximum of 36 months
Higher education institutions, training and research hospitals, research infrastructures, other public institutions and organizations and capital companies established in Türkiye with a trade registry certificate can apply to the call. Consortiums will need to have at least 3 independent partners who are eligible to receive support from their own funding organizations and who request support from at least 3 different countries that are members of the European Union (EU) participating in the call or associated with the Horizon Europe Programme.
The project duration will be a maximum of 36 months. Within the scope of a project, the total contribution that partners in Türkiye can request from TÜBİTAK cannot exceed 200 thousand euros, excluding institutional shares and project incentive bonus.
The upper limit per executive organization will be 100 thousand euros for higher education institutions, training and research hospitals, research infrastructures and other public institutions and organizations, and 200 thousand euros for private institutions.
Over the accepted budget, 100 percent support will be provided to higher education institutions, training and research hospitals, research infrastructures and other public institutions, 75 percent to SMEs, and 60 percent to large-scale private organizations.
Personnel, travel, consultancy, service procurement, tool, machinery, equipment, software, publication and consumable expenses of private organizations can be supported. Consultancy and services to be received from international project partners will be excluded from the scope of support.
International applications will end on January 20
International short project proposals will be prepared in English by the project coordinators and submitted to the call secretariat by January 20, 2027.
Partners in Türkiye will also need to complete their first stage national applications to TÜBİTAK by January 27, 2027.
While the first stage results are expected to be announced around April 9, 2027, the consortiums invited to the second stage will be able to submit their comprehensive international project proposals until May 25, 2027.
Accordingly, these projects are expected to start in December 2027.
