What Ciloa does

Ciloa SAS is a French privately-held biotechnology company founded in 2011 and headquartered in Montpellier, France, specializing in the bioengineering of small extracellular vesicles (sEVs/exosomes) for therapeutic and preventive applications. The company's core technology is the proprietary EVENGI platform, developed over 20 years of extracellular vesicle research, which has generated over 100 different bioengineered sEVs containing proteins of medical interest. Its lead product candidate is APN-sEV — sEVs loaded with stable, highly multimerised, functional adiponectin hormone — targeted at metabolic diseases including obesity, type 2 diabetes, MAFLD/MASH, and cardiovascular disease, with clinical trials (Phase I in 2027, Phase IIa in 2028) planned for the APN-sEV candidate.

Ciloa's business model is a pre-revenue biopharmaceutical development model: the company is not yet commercializing any products and will generate revenue through future drug commercialization or licensing once its therapeutic candidates complete clinical trials and receive regulatory approval. The platform also supports applications in oncology, rare diseases, age-related illnesses, and viral pandemic preparedness through sEV-based vaccines. To date, the company has been funded primarily through non-dilutive government grants, securing €5 million in March 2022 from the France 2030 initiative for biomedicines and vaccines development, and €6.5 million in July 2025 under the 'DIADEME' project for scaling up manufacturing and advancing APN-sEV through preclinical and clinical trials, bringing cumulative disclosed funding to approximately €11.5 million.

The company operates with a small team (1-10 employees) and pursues an enterprise-oriented go-to-market, engaging potential pharmaceutical partners and investors through industry conferences such as BIO US 2025 (as part of the French Delegation) and the EU-Japan Biotech & Pharma Conference. Ciloa has also entered a strategic co-development partnership with Bio-Sourcing and Intract Pharma under the AB-BIOBETTER EU project (€3.4 million total, €1.9 million in Eureka Eurostars subsidies) to develop an oral formulation of adalimumab for inflammatory indications, demonstrating a willingness to expand the platform beyond metabolic disease applications.

Name

Ciloa

Legal name

Ciloa SAS

Website

https://ciloa.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Ciloa is a French pre-revenue biotech developing bioengineered small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) via its proprietary EVENGI platform, with a lead APN-sEV candidate targeting obesity and type 2 diabetes through planned Phase I trials in 2027.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Biopharmaceutical Therapeutics

NAICS

Electromedical and Electrotherapeutic Apparatus Manufacturing (334510), Dog and Cat Food Manufacturing (311111)

SIC

Biological Products, (No Disgnostic Substances) (2836)

akta.pro primary industry

Protein Engineering & Directed Evolution Platforms (enzyme/therapeutic protein optimization) (HLAAAIAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Engineered Protein Therapeutics (de novo/AI-designed proteins, novel scaffolds) (HLAAAAAJ)

Keywords

• Extracellular vesicles therapeutics
• Biopharmaceutical drug development
• Metabolic disease treatments
• Exosome bioengineering
• Adiponectin therapeutics

Headquarters

HQ city

Montpellier

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Therapeutic Drug Development: Pre-revenue biopharmaceutical company developing drug candidates (APN-sEV) for obesity and type 2 diabetes. Revenue will be generated through eventual drug commercialization pending successful clinical trials and regulatory approvals.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Ciloa develops bioengineered small extracellular vesicles (sEVs/exosomes) as therapeutic drug candidates using its proprietary EVENGI platform. Its lead candidate, APN-sEV, consists of sEVs loaded with stable, highly multimerised functional adiponectin hormone and targets metabolic diseases—specifically obesity, type 2 diabetes, MAFLD/MASH, and cardiovascular disease—by restoring insulin sensitivity, reducing lipogenesis, and preserving lean muscle mass. The pipeline also extends to oncology, rare diseases, age-related illnesses, and vaccine development against viral pandemics.

Product overview

Ciloa is a biotech company pioneering the bioengineering of small extracellular vesicles (sEVs/exosomes) as natural therapeutic messengers. The company's core offering centers on its proprietary EVENGI Platform, which generates bioengineered sEVs containing proteins of medical interest. The lead product is APN-sEVs—sEVs containing functional adiponectin hormone—for treating metabolic diseases including obesity, type 2 diabetes, MAFLD/MASH, and cardiovascular diseases. Ciloa's technology enables stable, ready-to-use, affordable medicines that can be stored in refrigerators for years.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• APN-sEVs Bioengineered small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) containing stable, highly multimerised and functional adiponectin hormone, developed as therapeutic drug candidates for metabolic diseases including obesity and type 2 diabetes. APN-sEVs provide insulin-sensitizing, anti-inflammatory, and anti-oxidative stress properties while protecting lean muscle mass during treatment.

Quantifiable outcome

• Spectacular effects on obesity and diabetes characterized by decreased circulating adiponectin

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Bio-SourcingcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 May 2024Ciloa partnered with Bio-Sourcing and Intract Pharma on the AB-BIOBETTER project, a €3.4 million EU project funded with €1.9M subsidies from Eureka Eurostars. The project aims to pioneer development of new oral formulation of adalimumab for inflammatory indications.
• Intract PharmacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 May 2024Ciloa partnered with Bio-Sourcing and Intract Pharma on the AB-BIOBETTER project, a €3.4 million EU project funded with €1.9M subsidies from Eureka Eurostars. The project aims to pioneer development of new oral formulation of adalimumab for inflammatory indications.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Evox Therapeutics: UK-based biotech engineering exosomes/extracellular vesicles for therapeutic delivery of proteins, RNA, and other payloads across rare diseases and CNS indications. Most directly comparable to Ciloa's EVENGI platform given shared core modality of bioengineered sEVs for therapeutic use.
• Capricor Therapeutics: Clinical-stage biotech developing extracellular vesicle-based therapeutics, including lead program CAP-1002 for Duchenne muscular dystrophy and inflammatory conditions. Comparable to Ciloa as an EV-therapeutics pure-play advancing assets toward clinical milestones.
• Vesigen Therapeutics: US biotech developing engineered extracellular vesicles (ARMMs) as a delivery platform for nucleic acid and protein therapeutics. Shares Ciloa's focus on engineering sEVs as a modular delivery vehicle rather than unmodified natural vesicles.
• ILIAS Biologics: Korean biotech developing exosome-based therapeutics using engineered extracellular vesicles to deliver therapeutic proteins intracellularly. Closely comparable to Ciloa's protein-loading sEV approach and platform-based development model.
• Aegle Therapeutics: Clinical-stage biotech developing extracellular vesicle therapies derived from mesenchymal stem cells for inflammatory and dermatologic indications. Comparable to Ciloa as a focused EV-therapeutics developer with clinical-stage assets.
• Aruna Bio: US biotech developing neural-derived exosomes (AB-126) for CNS and inflammatory indications. Comparable to Ciloa as a specialty extracellular vesicle therapeutics company targeting indications beyond a single disease area.

Broad incumbents

• Novo Nordisk: Global leader in diabetes and obesity care with the dominant GLP-1 franchise (Ozempic, Wegovy). Sets the standard-of-care benchmark that any new metabolic disease entrant like APN-sEV must beat or differentiate against on efficacy, safety, and muscle preservation.
• Eli Lilly: Major incumbent in obesity and T2D with Mounjaro/Zepbound (tirzepatide) and an active metabolic pipeline. Comparable to Ciloa as the second dominant force defining the obesity therapeutic landscape and the primary competitive reference for APN-sEV.

Emerging players

• Zealand Pharma: Clinical-stage biotech developing peptide therapeutics for metabolic disease, including obesity and diabetes. Comparable to Ciloa as a smaller-cap metabolic disease specialist pursuing differentiated mechanisms against the GLP-1 incumbents.
• BioAge Labs: Clinical-stage biotech developing therapeutics for metabolic diseases of aging, including obesity. Comparable to Ciloa as a development-stage company targeting metabolic indications with differentiated mechanisms and similar pre-commercial timelines.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ciloabiotech
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCkzCVKfkU8_3TW2A3fS-Haw
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ciloa-sas

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Ciloa