The project was aimed at using marine sponges as source for the development of new pharmaceuticals, allowing supra-disciplinary approach, using the newest developments in the ‘omics’ to propel forward the current knowledge on the intricate interactions between the invertebrate host and associated microbes. The project helped to open up the richest resource of bioactive compounds in marine environment, contributing to long-term competitive health care development by linking prokaryotic and eukaryotic physiology to natural product chemistry.
Partners included: Wageningen Universiteit, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Porifarma BV (Netherlands); DSMZ-Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen GmbH, Deutsches Krebsforsch-ungszentrum KliniPharm GmbH (Germany); Cardiff University (UK); University College Cork (Ireland); MATIS ehf, Iceland University, ArcticMass ehf, Actavis group, Saebily ehf (Iceland); Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas Pharma Mar, S.A.U. (Spain); Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zurich (Switzerland); Tallinn University of Technology (Estonia).