HORIZON EUROPE • HEALTH

Disarming the Immune TRAP

DITRAP is developing a first-in-class, host-directed therapy designed to help prevent Gram-negative infections in intensive care by enhancing patients’ natural ability to clear bacteria and reducing reliance on antibiotics.

4 years

project duration

5 partners

project consortium

8 million €

project budget

THE MEDICAL NEED

Patients in intensive care units (ICUs) are especially vulnerable to healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). Frequent invasive procedures, severe underlying illness and prolonged hospital stays increase the risk of infection. In some European centres, more than 25% of ICU patients develop an infection, and mortality associated with these infections can exceed 30%.

In critically ill patients, extensive use of broad-spectrum antibiotics before an infection has been microbiologically confirmed, increases selective pressure and contributes to antimicrobial resistance (AMR). In OECD and EU/EEA countries, more than 60% of deaths associated with antimicrobial resistance are linked to healthcare-acquired resistant infections.

DITRAP: THE GAME CHANGER

Current infection-control measures remain essential, but they cannot prevent every ICU-acquired infection. There is therefore a need for rapid, targeted and non-antibiotic approaches that can protect high-risk patients without increasing antimicrobial resistance.

DITRAP is developing a first-in-class, host-directed therapy designed to help prevent Gram-negative infections in intensive care by enhancing patients’ natural ability to clear bacteria and reducing reliance on antibiotics. Combined with AI-driven patient stratification, this approach aims to identify high-risk ICU patients early and enable more targeted preventive treatment.