D-Tails awarded EIC Pathfinder funding to coordinate ULYSSES
ULYSSES supports the development of a non-invasive cancer-detection platform based on urine VOCs, engineered yeast biosensors, and AI-driven optical readout.
D-Tails has been awarded EIC Pathfinder funding under Horizon Europe to coordinate ULYSSES, a European research project advancing a new non-invasive cancer-detection platform.
ULYSSES, short for Ultrasensitive Luminescence-based Yeast Sensors for Specific Early Cancer Sensing, supports the development of a portable urine-based biosensor for the early detection of breast and prostate cancer. The project officially starts on 1 May 2026 and runs through 30 April 2029.
The project brings together D-Tails with research and clinical partners including the University of Copenhagen, University College London, and Istituti Fisioterapici Ospitalieri. Together, the consortium will advance the platform from laboratory validation toward clinical feasibility.
What ULYSSES is developing
ULYSSES focuses on three converging technical pillars:
- Urine VOCs as a non-invasive diagnostic substrate.
- Engineered yeast biosensors expressing selected C. elegans olfactory receptors.
- AI-driven optical readout to interpret biological sensing signals and support clinically oriented insight.
The scientific objective is to detect cancer-related volatile organic compounds in urine and translate the biological response of engineered biosensors into measurable optical signals. Machine learning will be used to interpret those signals and link them to cancer-associated patterns.
Why it matters
EIC Pathfinder supports high-risk, high-potential research at the frontier of science and technology. Selection under the programme reflects the ambition and competitiveness of the ULYSSES project, while reinforcing D-Tails’ role as coordinator of a European consortium focused on non-invasive cancer detection.
For D-Tails, ULYSSES is a major institutional and scientific milestone. It supports the pre-clinical development path for the company’s Cancer Detection platform, which is currently advancing from laboratory validation toward clinical feasibility.
Development status
The ULYSSES project strengthens D-Tails’ roadmap, but it should not be read as clinical validation, regulatory clearance, or commercial availability of the diagnostic test. The platform remains in active development and is being advanced toward broader feasibility work, regulatory planning, and future validation.
Project details are publicly available on CORDIS.