What kind of medicine for tomorrow and the day after tomorrow in cancer and neuroscience ?

Abstract of Clémentine Bosch-Bouju's presentation

Biomimetic polymers as allies of neuroscience in the development of neurotechnologies

Many brain pathologies remain poorly treated, because drug access to the pathological zone in the brain is very limited. In response to these limitations, intracerebral pharmacotherapy is being developed, but it does not allow us to control the release of drugs in the brain over time. In addition, the field of neuroprosthetics (brain stimulation, optogenetics, man-machine interface) is currently booming, in order to better target the brain areas to be treated. However, these approaches do not involve the controlled release of drugs into the brain. Biomimetic polymers can overcome the limitations of these two therapeutic approaches. By using biomimetic polymers, it is possible to release molecules into the brain with a high degree of temporal, spatial and concentration control. This is the principle behind the research project developed by Sébastien Lecommandoux and Clémentine Bosch-Bouju, which will be presented at this seminar. The potential contribution of biomimetic polymers to biomedical research in the neurosciences, and in particular to the design of new neurotechnologies, will also be discussed, in the light of research carried out around the world.

Clémentine Bosch-Bouju

Clémentine Bosch-Bouju is a neurophysiologist and teacher-researcher at Ensmac, an INP engineering school specializing in chemistry and biology. She completed her thesis between 2008 and 2011 in Laurent Venance's team at the Collège de France. Her research theme is the study of neuronal communication in physiological and pathological situations, particularly in the context of Parkinson's disease. After a first postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Otago (New Zealand), where she trained in electrophysiology and in vivo optogenetics, she joined the NutriNeuro laboratory (INRAE, University of Bordeaux, INP) in 2014, where she studied the impact of nutrition on neuronal plasticity. She was recruited as a lecturer at Ensmac in 2016. There she met Sébastien Lecommandoux, and together they initiated a first research project in 2018. Since then, she has specialized in the design of neurotechnologies, at the interface of chemistry and bioelectronics, to offer new tools for studying the brain and developing innovative therapeutic strategies for neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders.

Abstract by Isabel Marey-Semper

Reversing the conventional chemotherapy paradigm with disruptive polymersomes : the birth of remotely controlled chemotherapy

Chemotherapy remains the standard of care for many cancer patients. However, the dose of chemotherapy administered is limited to what the patient can tolerate, rather than the most effective dose to eradicate the tumor locally. This compromise is due to the nature of anti-cancer molecules which, when injected intravenously, affect all growing cells in the body, not just cancer cells, creating harmful side effects. As a result, the dose of chemotherapy is too low locally in the tumor to be fully effective, and too high in healthy organs to be harmless. DOXANANO aims to reverse this paradigm by achieving a chemotherapy dose never before achieved in the tumor, leading to its eradication, while preserving healthy organs.
To achieve this, DOXANANO is developing a revolutionary therapeutic approach called remotely-activated chemotherapy (RAC®) : anti-cancer molecules are encapsulated in unique spherical nanoparticles made of polymers called DXN polymersomes. These highly stable DXNs are veritable " nano-coffre forts ", securely transporting the molecules throughout the body. Once inside the tumor and in the presence of radiotherapy, DXNs open up locally in the tumor and release their anti-cancer molecule content in a controlled manner.

Isabel Marey-Semper

Isabel Marey-Semper is founder and CEO of DOXANANO, a precision nanomedicine pharmaceutical start-up dedicated to the fight against cancer. Prior to founding DOXANANO, Ms. Marey-Semper held senior management positions in leading innovative industrial companies such as Compagnie de Saint-Gobain, Stellantis and L'Oréal. Isabel Marey-Semper began her career as a strategy and finance consultant. Isabel is also an independent director of an American company and of the Imagine Institute (a medical research and treatment institute for genetic diseases at the Necker Hospital).
Isabel Marey-Semper graduated from theÉcolenormale supérieure de la rue d'Ulm, and after completing her thesis at the Collège de France, holds a doctorate in neurobiology from the Pierre-et-Marie-Curie University. Isabel holds an MBA from the Collège des Ingénieurs. She is a public member of the ^73rd session on defense policy at the Institut des hautes études de défense nationale, and a colonel in the French Air and Space Force Citizen Reserve. Isabel Marey-Semper is a Knight in the National Order of the Legion of Honor.