Aceso Therapeutics is an early-stage biotech based in Montpellier, France, developing next-generation therapies for cystic fibrosis, a rare and severe lung disease. Despite current triple therapies, many patients remain ineligible or insufficiently responsive, representing a major unmet medical need and significant market opportunity.

ACT-101 is a first-in-class inhaled antisense oligonucleotide that takes an upstream approach by increasing CFTR mRNA levels, leading to higher protein production and improved CFTR function. This differentiated mechanism offers potential as both a standalone therapy and in combination with existing treatments. Preclinical data in patient-derived epithelia show a significant increase in CFTR activity, potentially reaching clinically meaningful levels, with no toxicity observed in vivo, supporting a favorable safety profile. The program is advancing under regulatory guidance toward a IND submission planned for end-2027 to initiate Phase 1 clinical trials.

Aceso is preparing €2M fundraising complete preclinical development, aiming for Phase 2 in 2031 and partnership.

Syndivia is focused on unlocking the full therapeutic potential of antibody-drug conjugates by restoring the antibody as an active driver of efficacy, rather than treating it as a passive payload carrier. GeminiMab ADC platform allows conjugation while preserving antibody exposure close to that of the unconjugated backbone, enabling dosing levels where antibody biology is fully expressed.

HEMERION Therapeutics is a clinical-stage healthcare company focused on the discovery and development of innovative therapies that combine photosensitizing molecules and laser light technologies. This combination product strategy is aimed at the selective treatment of resistant tumors. More specifically, the company is positioned in oncology and has dedicated its first « best-in-class » drug-device combination program to target glioblastoma as its first indication. Hemerion’s technology is based on the unprecedented combination of a photosensitizing drug and an innovative photonic device.

The product combination integrates seamlessly into the surgical workflow and destroys tumor cells without harming healthy cells, leading to more favorable disease outcomes with longer progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). With two successful clinical trials already completed in France, Hemerion is sponsoring a new clinical trial in the U.S. after receiving IND approval from the FDA during 2023. Having raised more than $16 million since the inception of the company, Hemerion is preparing their upcoming pivotal clinical trial towards a planned market approval in 2030.

Despite a growing number of approved monoclonal antibodies targeting respiratory diseases, none are delivered by inhalation. All are administered systemically, restricting access to the most severe patients and requiring high doses with significant side effects. Inhalation could unlock lower doses and broader patient populations – but nebulization damages antibodies, and no validated solution currently exists.

SoteriaBio is a French pre-clinical stage biotech company developing a proprietary technology platform enabling the inhaled delivery of monoclonal antibodies for respiratory diseases. Backed $4M in equity seed funding and grants, SoteriaBio has demonstrated in vivo proof of concept showing complete lung distribution, significantly higher local concentration versus systemic injection, and therapeutic efficacy in preclinical asthma and COVID models.

SoteriaBio is actively seeking partnerships with companies developing or commercializing monoclonal antibodies for respiratory diseases, as well as opportunities to build its own inhaled biologic pipeline.

Originating from MedXCell SA (a Swiss Venture Builder) and academic collaborations with EPFL and ICGM/CNRS, SoteriaBio is led by Anh Nguyen, founder of MedinCell (EURONEXT: MEDCL). The company operates in Montpellier (France) and Montreux (Switzerland).

Oncovita, a Paris-based biotech spin-off from the Institut Pasteur, is developing a next-generation immunotherapy platform based on a genetically modified measles vaccine–derived virus. Its lead candidate, MVdeltaC, an « in situ » immunotherapy is in pre-IND development phase and will be first developped in two high unmet medical need diseases: Pleural Mesothelioma and in Triple Negative Breast Cancer.

The VECTrans® technology exploits specific receptors selected for their high uptake/endocytosis and constitutive recycling capacity, thereby allowing significant intracellular transport and accumulation of therapeutic or imaging agents. Once the vector moiety of a vector-payload complex is locked onto the appropriate receptor at the surface of BBB endothelial cells, cancer cells or any target cell type expressing such receptors, the vector-payload complex undergoes rapid internalisation and subsequent intra/transcellular trafficking. This ultimately leads to payload delivery into cells and across the BBB into the brain via transport and transcytosis processes respectively thus modifying pharmacokinetic (PK) and distribution profile of therapeutic or imaging candidates.