NOVIMMUNE SA

Their core work

NOVIMMUNE SA is a Swiss clinical-stage biopharmaceutical SME based in Plan-les-Ouates, Geneva — a dense biotech cluster — focused on discovering and developing treatments for immunological and oncological conditions. Their EU-funded work spans two distinct but related biological domains: T cell differentiation and plasticity relevant to autoimmune diseases, and NAD metabolism as a targetable pathway in cancer. As an industrial SME embedded in Marie Curie Innovative Training Networks (MSCA-ITN), they contribute pharmaceutical development expertise to academic consortia rather than running basic science themselves. This positions them as a translational bridge — converting mechanistic immunology into drug discovery programs.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Between 2015 and 2019, NOVIMMUNE's EU project work was rooted in helper T cell biology — specifically differentiation, plasticity, and their role in autoimmune pathology, through ENLIGHT-TEN. By 2018, they pivoted toward NAD metabolism in cancer through INTEGRATA, signaling either a deliberate therapeutic area expansion or a parallel internal strategy to address oncology alongside autoimmunity. The shift from immune dysregulation (autoimmune context) to metabolic reprogramming (cancer context) is notable but not incoherent — NAD plays roles in immune cell function as well, and the cancer-immunology interface is a commercially active space. This evolution suggests NOVIMMUNE was tracking industry trends toward immuno-oncology throughout this period.

NOVIMMUNE appears to be moving from pure autoimmune immunology toward oncology applications, particularly metabolic targeting — a direction consistent with the broader biopharmaceutical industry's shift into cancer immunotherapy and tumor metabolism.

How they like to work

NOVIMMUNE has never coordinated an H2020 project, always participating as a partner or third party within consortia led by academic institutions — a pattern typical of SMEs that contribute specialized pharmaceutical expertise without the administrative overhead of project leadership. Their two projects are both large MSCA-ITN training networks with 31 distinct partners across 10 countries, suggesting they are comfortable operating inside complex, academically-driven multi-partner environments. For potential collaborators, this means NOVIMMUNE is likely a focused, self-sufficient industrial partner rather than a consortium anchor — best approached with a defined scientific brief and a clear role for pharmaceutical input.

NOVIMMUNE has collaborated with 31 unique partners across 10 countries through two MSCA-ITN consortia, giving them a broad but academically concentrated European network. Their geographic footprint spans Western and Northern Europe, consistent with the typical composition of Marie Curie training networks.

What sets them apart

NOVIMMUNE occupies a specific niche as a Geneva-based pharmaceutical SME that bridges academic immunology networks and translational drug discovery — a role few companies of their size sustain across two distinct biological domains (autoimmunity and oncology). Their presence in MSCA-ITN consortia signals that leading academic groups consider them credible industrial co-supervisors for doctoral-level research, which is a meaningful peer endorsement. For consortium builders, they offer direct access to pharmaceutical development know-how in T cell biology and NAD-targeted cancer therapy without the contractual complexity of engaging a large pharma partner.

Highlights from their portfolio

• INTEGRATA
  NOVIMMUNE's only directly funded H2020 project (EUR 281,277), targeting NAD metabolism in cancer — a scientifically distinct and commercially relevant topic that marks their clearest move into oncology.
• ENLIGHT-TEN
  A large informatics-genomics network for helper T cell biology where NOVIMMUNE served as an industrial partner, demonstrating early credibility in autoimmune immunology research consortia.