Understand the tumour
Analyse its particular features to identify targets that the immune system could recognise.
Belgian biotechnology · Personalised RNA
A graphic novel for investors, in the great Belgian comics tradition.
A new path to personalised immunotherapy.
Designing therapeutic vaccines around the unique features of each tumour. Discover OncoRNA’s scientific ambition and the people behind it.
OncoRNA-Omics: say it out loud, it sounds like comics.
Preparing for the first clinical phase
01 / Our approach
A unique tumour. A response to design.
Every tumour has its own characteristics. OncoRNA aims to make these the starting point for personalised immunotherapy, helping the immune system recognise its targets.
Our approach uses many distinct RNAs produced from a pool of synthetic DNA. Each RNA carries its own information: multiple messages brought together in one strategy.
Multiply the messages
Design a set of distinct RNAs, each carrying antigenic information.
Prepare for clinical translation
Develop the process, controls and studies needed to progress towards human trials.
02 / Development
Scientific foundations. A clear path forward.
Preclinical results and a developing intellectual property portfolio underpin the next stage of the project.
First proof of concept
Initial immunogenicity results in a mouse model.
A new experimental milestone
An immunological advantage for the pool observed in the preclinical comparison performed.
Patent applications
A family of applications to protect the project’s developments.
December 2026 — a new and final preclinical experiment with ULB. A preventive study in mice will compare 96 tumour targets with 20, measuring tumour growth, survival and T-cell responses. The team approaches this final step with confidence.
These preclinical results do not demonstrate efficacy in humans.
The next steps
Prepare
Transfer the process and lipid formulation, prepare GMP manufacturing, validate controls and compile the regulatory dossier.
Evaluate
Start Phase 1 in Q3–Q4 2027 and continue into 2028, subject to the necessary funding and approvals.
Develop
Aim for Phase 2 and prepare for industrial scale-up, depending on the results of the earlier stages.
03 / The people behind the science
Where science meets entrepreneurship.
OncoRNA began with a conviction shared by Jean-Pol Detiffe and Christophe Van Huffel: the unique features of each cancer may open new therapeutic avenues.
Jean-Pol Detiffe
Entrepreneurship & development
Christophe Van Huffel
Research & scientific approach
04 / Investors
Supporting the next step.
More, better, easier, faster, cheaper.
Broaden the range of targets
The project prototype brings together 121 distinct RNAs for 121 neoantigens. This is a capability shown by project data, not a clinical result. For context, Moderna and Merck’s V940/intismeran encodes up to 34 neoantigens.
Cover tumour diversity more fully
In the project’s preclinical comparisons, the pool improved the immune response observed. It also includes candidates ranked lower by prediction tools that may nevertheless trigger a response, aiming to cover tumour diversity and clonality more fully.
Simplify the process
Synthetic DNA templates replace steps associated with plasmid-based approaches, producing the RNAs through a simpler process with fewer steps.
Accelerate manufacturing
A simpler process supports the ambition of accelerating the manufacture of personalised preparations.
Aim for greater accessibility
Robotic production and simple mixtures support the objective of reducing costs and making personalised vaccines more affordable.
A €5 million total funding objective, bringing together business angels, a specialist fund and a public-sector investor.
Business angels
Scientists and entrepreneurs from the sector, brought together around the project.
Specialist venture capital fund
A healthcare or biotechnology fund to support clinical development.
Public-sector investor
A contribution adjusted to the business angels’ participation, bringing the total to €5 million.
We are seeking investors; no commitment is presented as secured.
The characters in the story
Faces. Convictions.
Two co-inventors, pivotal encounters and the characters of a speculative story. Each sheds light on a different side of the journey: scientific, human or industrial.
The entrepreneur
Jean-Pol Detiffe
Founder of OncoDNA and co-inventor, he connects research, teams and funding. Patients’ expectations drive his commitment.
Inspired by a real person
The scientist
Christophe Van Huffel
Enthusiastic and exacting, he turns questions into research directions. His notebooks of ideas sit alongside maps for his next travels.
Inspired by a real personThe oncologist
Sarah Lemaire
She supports patients and upholds rigorous clinical research. Scientific precision and care for people guide her decisions.
Fictional characterThe patient
Lucie Moreau
She wants to be there to see her daughter become an engineer. Her first contact, her doubts and her hope of seeing her graduate bring a human thread to the story.
Fictional characterThe engineer
Mila Renard
She turns diagrams into production modules and supports local teams with precision and a sense of humour.
Fictional characterQuality control · IT and AI
Gregori Vitti
He contributes to quality control by developing IT and AI tools for monitoring operations and tracing batches.
Real person · Dramatised roleThe investor
Adrien Voss
He weighs an invention’s potential, risks and trade-offs. His discussions with Jean-Pol place funding decisions at the heart of the story.
Fictional characterThe humanoid from Beaumont
Hector · H-01
He embodies a vision of robotic production in a cleanroom under human supervision: a glimpse of the industrial ambition explored in the graphic novel.
Fictional robot
The pivotal conversation
Jean Stéphenne
A dramatised phone conversation with Jean-Pol connects the race for a COVID vaccine with new thinking about cancer.
Real person · Dramatised appearanceThe fictional characters and their journeys illustrate possible future developments in the story. Appearances by real people are dramatised and do not constitute an official endorsement of the project.
05 / The graphic novel
Science also has a human story.
From the birth of an idea to the ambition of a campus in Belgium: discover the OncoRNA journey in 55 illustrated pages.
Speculative fiction inspired by a real scientific journey. The clinical and industrial scenes illustrate possible future developments.