Team 3
PHARMACOLOGY OF INHALED PHARMACEUTICALS
Team leader : Nathalie HEUZE-VOURC'H
Scientific goals
Research areas
Characterize devices, drugs & devices for inhalation delivery
Establish novel experimental models/ methods for inhalation to help translation into the clinics
Establish biological collections to investigate barriers to inhalation
Operate clinical trials with novel inhalation modalities/ inhaled drugs
Members
Team leaders
Nathalie HEUZE-VOURC'H
Laurent PLANTIER
Specific expertises
Nasal cast models
Aerosol metrology
ALI culture
PK/PD Studies
Physico-chemistry of proteins
Deposition Studies
Clinical Studies
Key events
Start of Chaymae El Jamali’s thesis, investigating a new effector function of therapeutic antibodies in the lungs supervised by T. Sécher and N. Fournier.
T. Sécher has been involved in the organization of the annual workshop of the Antibody Club from the French Society of Immunology, entitled: "Innovative antibodies and novel technologies " held in Paris (https://immunology.fr/fr/event/annual-workshop-of-the-antibody-club/)
Mike Pasteur brilliantly defended his thesis: “Biomimetic model of human nasal cavity for drug development”
ANR fundings :
The team is involved in two newly granted ANR projects:
Lung-mem: Exploring the Role of CXCR4-CXCL12 in Tissue-Resident Memory T Cell Dynamics in Lung Health and Pneumonia, coordinated by Jeremie Poschmann (UMR_S 1064 Center for Research in Transplantation and Translational Immunology)
Petrel : Development of a novel live biotherapeutic product, PC103, for aerosol treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa lung infections, coordinated by Geneviève Hery-Arnaud (Brest University Hospital)
PEPR-MIE :
InHEALation focusing on the development of an innovative prophylactic and therapeutic inhaled platform against respiratory viruses, coordinated by Mathieu Epardaud (ISP – INRAe/University of Tours) and T. Sécher (CEPR – INSERM/University of Tours)
- Team 3 participated with the H202O FAIR consortium in the organization of the ERS Virtual School: Nebulisation of drugs for treatment of respiratory infections and disease (25 February 2025)
FAIR project :
Start of the Phase I clinical trial for FLAMOD, an innovative therapy targeting respiratory infections. The NEBUFLAG trial marks the culmination of five years of fruitful collaborative work carried out within the FAIR project.
Team's work was highlighted during the “French Phage Network” annual conference—eighth meeting report.
Microlife. 2025 Jan 31;6:uqaf001. doi: 10.1093/femsml/uqaf001
Team 3 organized the SFI Antibodies Club webinar: «Passive protection at mucosal surface»
4 promotions in the team :
Nathalie Heuzé Vourc’h : appointed Directrice de recherche INSERM 1ère classe
Virginie Hervé : appointed Professeur des Universités
Christelle Parent : appointed Assistante Ingénieure INSERM
Déborah Le Pennec : appointed Assistante Ingénieure Université de Tours
Start of the BarrIg clinical trial (funded by CSL Behring) to study the impact of biological barriers on IgG-pathogen interactions at the mucosal surface in patients suffering from bronchiectasis (in collaboration with the Pneumology Department of the CHRU de Tours and CIC 1415, Tours).
New thesis
Start of Katia Montero-Diaz’s thesis about the analysis of immune responses to mRNA-based vaccines, supervised by N.Heuzé Vourc’h & T. Sécher.
Noémie Alphonse was awarded postodoctoral fellowship by EMBO
Start of 2 CIFRE theses :
- Gabrielle Pichon CEPR/Affilogic, Nantes (co-direction: Nathalie Heuzé-Vourc'h & Mathieu Cinier (Affilogic))
- Valentine Chéron CEPR/4P-Pharma, Lille (co-direction: Virginie Hervé & Stephan Ehrmann)
The team is coordinating the 4 years ANR-granted project Bionose focusing at the “Development of a biomimetic model of human nasal cavity for drug development”
Team 3 published the results of the multicentric AMIKINHAL trial on inhaled amikacin to prevent Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia (doi: 10.1056/NEJMc2400427)
Team 3 participates to the PEPR Biotherapies and Bioproduction of innovative therapies (ACCREDIA and RNAVAC) to improve the development process of mucosally-administered antibodies and RNA vaccines
Dr. Nathalie Heuzé-Vourc’h was nominated deputy-director of the Health Technologie Institute of Inserm
Dr. Thomas Sécher participates in the steering committee of the « Antibody club » (French Society of Immunology).
Since 2022, Team 3 participates to the Organoid GDR
Team 3 joined the European “VIB Grand Challenge program” to develop inhaled antibodies against viral respiratory pathogens
Pr. Stephan Ehrmann has established guidelines on how to deliver aerosol therapy during the COVID-19 pandemic, for optimal therapeutic aerosol delivery while preventing bioaerosol dispersion
(doi:10.1183/13993003.00892-2020)
Team 3 joined the European H2020 “FAIR” consortium (2020-2025) to develop inhaled flagellin as an alternative adjunct strategy to standard of care antibiotics for treating pneumonia caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Fundings & partnerships
Fundings
Scientific environment
Partners
France
Europe
USA
Communicate and disseminate the scientific knowledge and advances toward various audiences
Support the industrial actors for the development of new inhaled pharmaceuticals/inhalation technologies
Participate in the regulatory assessment and guideline establishment for the use of inhalation medicines/products
Accelerate the development of inhaled medicines/products and innovative inhalers
Foster the transfer of inhaled pharmaceuticals/inhalation technologies into the clinics
Extend the use of inhalation to biotherapeutics (RNA vaccines, therapeutic antibodies…) and innovative pharmaceuticals
Communicate and disseminate the scientific knowledge and advances toward various audiences
Support the industrial actors for the development of new inhaled pharmaceuticals/inhalation technologies
Participate in the regulatory assessment and guideline establishment for the use of inhalation medicines/products
Accelerate the development of inhaled medicines/products and innovative inhalers
Foster the transfer of inhaled pharmaceuticals/inhalation technologies into the clinics
Extend the use of inhalation to biotherapeutics (RNA vaccines, therapeutic antibodies…) and innovative pharmaceuticals