iReceptor Plus · Project

Shared Search Engine for Immune Data to Speed Up Drug and Vaccine Development

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Imagine every hospital and lab keeps its immune system research data in its own locked filing cabinet, using different labels. When a pharma company wants to find patterns across thousands of patients — say, which immune responses predict that a cancer therapy will work — they can't easily search across all those cabinets at once. iReceptor Plus built something like a Google for immune receptor data: a secure search platform that lets researchers and companies query data sitting in dozens of labs across 9 countries, without the data ever leaving its original location. The result is faster discovery of biomarkers for vaccines, cancer treatments, and autoimmune therapies.

By the numbers

consortium partners across the federated network

countries with connected data repositories

EUR 7,856,925

EU investment in platform development

industry partners including 6 SMEs

total deliverables completed

38%

industry participation ratio in consortium

The business problem

What needed solving

Pharma companies and diagnostics firms developing immunotherapies, vaccines, and autoimmune treatments need access to large, diverse immune receptor datasets to find meaningful patterns — but this data is scattered across labs worldwide in incompatible formats, locked behind privacy regulations and institutional silos. Without a way to search across these datasets, companies spend months negotiating individual data-sharing deals or work with dangerously small sample sizes that miss critical immune response patterns.

The solution

What was built

A federated search platform that queries immune receptor sequencing data across distributed repositories without moving sensitive patient data. Key deliverables include: a layered security system balancing FAIR data access with patient privacy (D3.2), AI-powered biomarker signature search (D5.3), binding affinity-based query capability (D7.4), a tranSMART data integration pipeline (D6.2), and completed integration testing across all connected repositories (D2.4).

Audience

Who needs this

Biopharma companies developing therapeutic antibodies or cancer immunotherapiesVaccine manufacturers needing cross-population immune response dataDiagnostic companies building immune biomarker-based testsContract research organizations (CROs) offering immunology servicesHealth data platform companies looking to integrate immune repertoire data

Business applications

Who can put this to work

Biopharmaceuticals

enterprise

Target: Pharma and biotech companies developing therapeutic antibodies or immunotherapies

If you are a biopharma company developing therapeutic antibodies and struggling to find relevant immune response patterns across fragmented datasets — this project built a federated search platform that lets you query immune receptor data from 21 partner institutions across 9 countries without moving sensitive patient data. The AI-powered biomarker search (deliverable D5.3) can identify immune signatures relevant to your drug candidates, and the affinity-based query system (deliverable D7.4) lets you search by binding strength — cutting months off target discovery.

Clinical Diagnostics

mid-size

Target: Diagnostic companies developing immune-based biomarker tests

If you are a diagnostics company looking to develop early detection tests for autoimmune diseases or cancer — this project created a data integration pipeline (deliverable D6.2) and AI-powered query tools that can identify biomarker signatures across federated immune datasets. The platform connects data from 8 industry and 8 university partners, giving you access to diverse patient populations. The layered security system (deliverable D3.2) ensures patient privacy while enabling the cross-institutional analysis needed to validate diagnostic biomarkers.

Vaccine Development

any

Target: Vaccine manufacturers and contract research organizations

If you are a vaccine developer trying to understand how immune repertoires respond to your candidates across different populations — this project built a platform that federates immune receptor sequencing data across institutions in 9 countries. Instead of negotiating individual data-sharing agreements with each lab, you can query the entire network through one secure interface. With 41 deliverables completed over 4 years, the platform includes tested integration across all connected repositories (deliverable D2.4).

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What would it cost to access the iReceptor Plus platform?

The project was funded with EUR 7,856,925 in EU contribution as a Research and Innovation Action, meaning the platform was built with public funding. Based on available project data, the core platform and data standards are designed for open scientific use, though commercial access terms would need to be discussed with the consortium coordinator at Bar Ilan University.

Can this platform handle the data volumes needed for industrial-scale drug development?

The platform was designed for distributed data federation across 21 partner institutions in 9 countries, with integration testing completed across all repositories (deliverable D2.4). The architecture handles querying without centralizing data, which means it scales by adding new repository nodes rather than requiring a single massive database.

Who owns the intellectual property, and can we license the technology?

The project involved 21 partners including 8 industry organizations and 6 SMEs, with a 38% industry ratio. IP arrangements would have been defined in the consortium agreement. Commercial licensing inquiries should be directed to the coordinator (Bar Ilan University) or the relevant industrial partners.

Is patient data protected when companies use this platform?

Data security was a core priority — deliverable D3.2 specifically implemented a layered security system ensuring FAIR data principles while protecting personal data. The federated architecture means patient data stays at its source institution and is never copied to a central location, which simplifies regulatory compliance.

How long would it take to integrate our existing immune data into this network?

The project delivered a data curation and integration pipeline within tranSMART (deliverable D6.2) and uses community-developed AIRR data standards. Organizations already following AIRR-seq community standards could integrate relatively quickly. The intermediate beta release (deliverable D1.6) and completed integration testing (deliverable D2.4) suggest the onboarding process has been validated.

Does the platform include AI or machine learning capabilities?

Yes — deliverable D5.3 specifically implemented AI-powered network functionality for querying biomarker signatures across the federated data space. Additionally, deliverable D7.4 added the ability to search by target binding affinity (Kd), enabling more sophisticated drug discovery queries beyond simple sequence matching.

What is the current status and will the platform continue operating?

The project ran from 2019 to 2022 and is now closed. The iReceptor platform existed before this EU project and the Plus consortium expanded its capabilities. Based on available project data, the platform infrastructure and the AIRR Data Commons it connects to are community-maintained resources that continue beyond the project funding period.

Consortium

Who built it

The iReceptor Plus consortium is notably well-balanced for commercialization, with 8 industry partners (38% of the 21-member consortium) including 6 SMEs — a strong signal that the technology was developed with real market needs in mind, not just academic interest. The 8 universities and 5 research organizations provide scientific depth, while the geographic spread across 9 countries (Belgium, Canada, Germany, Spain, France, Israel, Norway, Portugal, and the US) means the platform was stress-tested across different regulatory environments and data governance regimes. Bar Ilan University in Israel coordinates, and the transatlantic nature of the consortium (EU + Canada + US) gives the platform global reach in the immunotherapy market. For a business looking to engage, the high SME count suggests multiple potential technology providers, not just a single academic gatekeeper.

BAR ILAN UNIVERSITYCoordinator · IL
TIMELEXparticipant · BE
UNIVERSITY OF HAIFAparticipant · IL
INESC TEC - INSTITUTO DE ENGENHARIADE SISTEMAS E COMPUTADORES, TECNOLOGIA E CIENCIAparticipant · PT
ASSISTANCE PUBLIQUE HOPITAUX DE PARISparticipant · FR
OSLO UNIVERSITETSSYKEHUS HFparticipant · NO
INTERTEAM LTDparticipant · IL
DEUTSCHES KREBSFORSCHUNGSZENTRUM HEIDELBERGparticipant · DE
AGORA P.S.V.D.thirdparty · IL
CLALIT HEALTH SERVICESparticipant · IL
Simon Fraser Universityparticipant · CA
ASCORA GMBHparticipant · DE
UNIVERSITETET I OSLOparticipant · NO
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SYSTEMparticipant · US
THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTOparticipant · CA
ACONDICIONAMIENTO TARRASENSE ASSOCIACIONparticipant · ES
SORBONNE UNIVERSITEparticipant · FR

How to reach the team

Bar Ilan University (Israel) — coordinator of a 21-partner international consortium. SciTransfer can facilitate a warm introduction to the right technical contact.

Order a report on this consortium See BAR ILAN UNIVERSITY profile →

Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want to explore how federated immune data search could accelerate your drug discovery or diagnostics pipeline? SciTransfer can connect you directly with the iReceptor Plus team and help identify which consortium partner best matches your specific needs.

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