DCM-NEXT
Enabling advances in diagnosis, patient stratification and treatment for dilated cardiomyopathy patients and families
Globally, approximately 30 million people suffer from Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM), including 1.8 million in the EU alone. This potentially fatal disease has a 12-20% three-year mortality rate, often due to heart failure or ventricular arrhythmia manifesting as sudden cardiac death. Our understanding of the aetiology and genetic architecture of DCM is incomplete, and therapeutic options are limited, with invasive heart transplantation as the sole curative option. To address these unmet medical needs for patients and their families, we aim to develop deeper understanding of DCM genetics, risk stratification and potential therapeutic targets.

The Challenges

Genetics
Current approach is blunt, focused on rare clinically actionable variants, with only a 30% yield for clinical genetic testing

Prognosis & Risk prediction
The high variability in disease expression and severity makes it difficult to identify patients at risk for heart failure and sudden cardiac death

Treatment
Limited therapeutic options which focus on generic symptom relief or invasive procedures

 

Mission

DCM-NEXT aims to develop comprehensive genetic risk profiling, predict disease outcomes more precisely, and expedite treatment development by identifying specific genes, variants, pathways, and cell types involved in DCM pathogenesis. This is crucial for addressing unmet medical needs in DCM patients globally.

Starting
1st of October 2023
Duration
48 months
Partners
7
Countries
5
Work Packages
8
Funding
€ 4.137.718,75

Funded by the Call: HORIZON-EIC-2022-PATHFINDERCHALLENGES 01 “CARDIOGENOMICS” from HORIZON European Innovation Council Grants/ European Commission