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Launch of the Prometheus University Hospital Institute, the first global centre for sepsis research, education and healthcare

On 17 September 2024, Université Paris-Saclay, the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), Assistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris (AP-HP), the French National Institute of Health and Medical research (Inserm) and their academic, non-profit and industrial partners, organised a morning event to launch the Prometheus University Hospital Institute (IHU - Institut hospitalo-universitaire). Prometheus was one of the 2023 laureates of the national IHU call for proposals, coordinated on behalf of the French government by the French National Research Agency (ANR). Awarded €40M as part of the France 2030 investment plan, Prometheus aims to reduce the number of deaths and sequelae caused by sepsis by half within the next ten years.

Launch event for the Prometheus IHU. From left to right: Roger le Grand, Deputy Director of the IHU; Olivier Lambotte, Deputy Director of the IHU; Marc Humbert, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Université Paris-Saclay; Djillali Annane, Director of the IHU; Anne-Isabelle Étienvre, Head of Fundamental Research at the CEA; Marc Pallardy, Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy at Université Paris-Saclay; Marisol Touraine, Chairwoman of the IHU’s Supervisory Board; Loïc Josseran, Dean of the Simone Veil – Health Faculty at UVSQ; Sylvie Retailleau, Minister of Higher Education and Research; Camille Galap, President of Université Paris-Saclay; Jamila Hedjal, Chairwoman of France Sepsis Association; Mervyn Singer, Chairman of the IHU’s independent international Scientific Advisory Board; Laurence Parmentier, Regional Inserm Representative for southern Paris Île-de-France; Nicolas Revel, Director General of AP-HP; Pierre-Christophe Baguet, Mayor of Boulogne Billancourt; Jean Luc Dubois-Randé, President of Université Paris-Est Créteil; Yazdan Yazdanpanah, Director of ANRS MIE Emerging Infectious Diseases. - © Univ. Paris-Saclay / Christophe Peus

Camille Galap, President of Université Paris-Saclay, Nicolas Revel, Director General of AP-HP, Anne-Isabelle Étienvre, Head of Fundamental Research at the CEA and Didier Samuel, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Inserm, opened the morning launch event on Tuesday 17 September. The launch was also attended by Sylvie Retailleau, Minister of Higher Education and Research. The Prometheus IHU is the world’s first centre dedicated to the fight against sepsis, involving researchers, healthcare professionals, patients, institutions and private partners, within an ecosystem dedicated to preventive action, healthcare, research, education and technology transfer.

The stakes are high; while sepsis remains relatively unknown to the general public, it is the most serious complication of an infection. It is characterised by an uncontrolled inflammatory response resulting in the impairment of vital functions. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), sepsis affects 50 million people each year, 45% of whom are children under the age of five. It is responsible for one in four deaths worldwide and for mental and motor disabilities in one in two survivors. Despite decades of extensive research, the mechanisms by which the host response to pathogens is disrupted remain poorly understood, and no treatment has been found.

The creation of this IHU aims to improve the development of new diagnostic tests and drugs, to halve the health-related, social and economic burden of sepsis within the next ten years.

A threefold scientific ambition for precision medicine:

  • A better understanding of the host-pathogen molecular and cellular interactions that lead to the development of an uncomplicated infection to sepsis, with the launch of a longitudinal cohort study of 10,000 patients over a ten-year period, unique worldwide, which will provide greater insights into long sepsis and its social and economic consequences.
  • The validation and marketing of a rapid testing platform to individually identify the host’s response to infection and therapeutic targets, and the creation of a sepsis-specific digital twin to accurately anticipate each individual’s response to the various treatments.
  • The development of new treatments, such as small innovative molecules, nanomedicines, biotherapies, vaccines and strategies modulating microbiota.
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