The CONDOR consortium, led by Pr Antoine Italiano of Institut Bergonié in Bordeaux, has been selected as one of the 17 national awardees of the fifth call for Hospital-University Research in Health projects, known as RHU5. Selected from 89 submitted applications, this €30 million project will receive more than €9.8 million in funding to implement a multimodal precision medicine and immunotherapy program for patients with soft tissue sarcomas.
Addressing an Urgent Need in Soft Tissue Sarcoma
Soft tissue sarcomas are rare and heterogeneous tumors, representing approximately 1% of adult cancers and 15% of childhood cancers.
Despite appropriate local treatment, up to 40% of patients develop metastatic relapse. At the metastatic stage, standard treatment has changed little since the 1970s and remains largely based on chemotherapy protocols with limited efficacy. Median survival remains below 18 months.
While immunotherapy has transformed the treatment landscape for several cancer types, it is not yet part of the standard therapeutic arsenal for patients with soft tissue sarcomas.
A National Consortium Combining Clinical, Translational, and Technological Expertise
The CONDOR project brings together leading French institutions and companies with complementary expertise in sarcoma care, translational research, artificial intelligence, biomarker discovery, and immunotherapy development.
The consortium includes three expert sarcoma centers:
- Institut Bergonié, project leader;
- Gustave Roussy;
- Centre Léon Bérard.
It also includes Inserm, through the Pôle de Recherche Clinique and the Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers, as well as three French companies:
- Domain Therapeutics, a global player in the discovery and development of anti-cancer therapies targeting G protein-coupled receptors;
- Explicyte, specialized in tumor and peripheral multiparametric profiling for immuno-oncology biomarker discovery and development;
- Owkin, a leader in digital pathology and artificial intelligence.
Many of these partners have already collaborated for several years, strengthening the consortium’s ability to deliver meaningful results within the five-year funding period.
A Multimodal Strategy to Transform Sarcoma Immunotherapy
CONDOR aims to develop a new therapeutic arsenal based on a deeper understanding of the soft tissue sarcoma tumor microenvironment.
The project will combine biological profiling, artificial intelligence, non-invasive biomarker development, and the discovery of new immunotherapeutic strategies.
Its ultimate ambition is to double the life expectancy of patients with metastatic soft tissue sarcomas.
More specifically, the consortium will aim to:
- establish an immunological atlas of sarcomas using a unique tumor bank of more than 20,000 samples with annotated clinical data;
- develop artificial intelligence tools predictive of treatment response;
- identify immunological signatures and develop non-invasive biomarker assays;
- develop new immunotherapies targeting GPCRs involved in immune responses to soft tissue sarcomas.
Explicyte’s Role in Immuno-Oncology Biomarker Discovery
As part of the CONDOR consortium, Explicyte will contribute its expertise in tumor and peripheral immune profiling, supporting the identification and development of biomarkers relevant to sarcoma immunotherapy.
Explicyte’s role is aligned with its core capabilities in multiparametric immuno-oncology analysis, including tumor microenvironment characterization, immune profiling, translational biomarker development, and integrated analysis of patient-derived samples.
Through this contribution, Explicyte will help support the development of precision medicine strategies aimed at better stratifying patients and identifying therapeutic approaches adapted to individual biological profiles.
“Given the complexity of treatment resistance mechanisms and precision medicine through biomarker approaches, this brings a definite advantage by offering treatments adapted to each patient,” said Alban Bessede, CEO of Explicyte.
Partner Perspectives
“This consortium represents tremendous hope for STS patients who are still waiting for effective treatments. I sincerely thank the National Research Agency and the French government for their support for medical innovation and their trust in the CONDOR project,” said Pr Antoine Italiano, Institut Bergonié.
“This project represents a unique opportunity to better understand the impact of the immune system in the pathophysiology of sarcomas and to develop innovative and effective treatment strategies,” said Pr Wolf-Hervé Fridman, Centre de Recherche des Cordeliers.
“We are pleased to be participating in this project, which we believe will help to change the standards of treatment for this type of cancer with such a poor prognosis,” added Dr Sophie Postel-Vinay, Gustave Roussy.
“The CONDOR RHU will allow us to accelerate knowledge in the field of sarcoma immunotherapy and to propose innovative therapeutic approaches that will change the prognosis for our patients,” said Dr Armelle Dufresne, Centre Léon Bérard.
“We are delighted to bring our expertise in artificial intelligence to the CONDOR project. The heterogeneity of STS and the very large amount of data that will be generated by the consortium require the implementation of a machine learning strategy that is essential for the development of precision medicine,” explained Charles Maussion, Director of Biomarkers at Owkin.
“Through CONDOR, we will deliver several candidates and aim to rearm the immune system by targeting GPCRs involved in immunosuppressive mechanisms. These new immunotherapies will be an integral part of a personalized medicine strategy, for greater patient benefit,” added Dr Xavier Leroy, CSO of Domain Therapeutics.
Toward Precision Immunotherapy for Sarcoma Patients
By combining clinical excellence, large-scale tumor resources, translational immunology, biomarker discovery, artificial intelligence, and innovative therapeutic development, CONDOR represents a major step toward precision immunotherapy for patients with soft tissue sarcomas.
For Explicyte, participation in this RHU-funded consortium reinforces its position as a specialized immuno-oncology CRO supporting translational research programs that connect patient-derived biological data with therapeutic innovation.