What InhaTarget Therapeutics does

InhaTarget Therapeutics is a Belgian clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company (InhaTarget Therapeutics SRL) spun out of the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) in August 2019, headquartered in Gosselies with a research office at ULB's Campus de la Plaine in Brussels. The company develops innovative inhalation formulations — both dry powder for inhalation (DPI) and nanomedicine-based delivery systems — to treat severe respiratory diseases, with an initial focus on lung cancer. Its lead product, CIS-DPI, is a cisplatin-based dry powder formulation designed to be administered five times weekly at home via inhaler, in combination with standard-of-care immunotherapy (pembrolizumab with or without IV chemotherapy) for first-line Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.

The company's technology rests on two proprietary platforms derived from 15+ years of research at ULB's Unit of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics: (1) a dry powder formulation platform based on particle engineering that enables high lung deposition and tailored drug release for inhaled chemotherapy, and (2) a nanomedicine-based delivery platform that encapsulates STING (Stimulator of Interferon Gene) pathway agonists for targeted pulmonary immunotherapy. CIS-DPI entered a Phase I/IIa first-in-human trial in February 2023 under FAMHP authorization, running across five Belgian hospital sites (Institut Jules Bordet, AZ Delta, CHU Ambroise Paré, Grand Hôpital de Charleroi, CHU Liège). Two additional inhaled chemotherapy compounds and the STING pathway immunotherapy remain at preclinical stage.

Commercially, InhaTarget is pre-revenue with no approved products and no disclosed pricing. Its intended monetization path is one-time licensing or co-development partnerships with larger pharmaceutical companies for commercialization of approved inhaled products, supplemented historically by €7.3M in non-dilutive Wallonia public funding layered onto €6.9M in Series A equity raised across two rounds (Series A1 €3.6M in December 2019, Series A2 €3.3M in June 2022). The company employs 1–10 staff and is led by co-founders Frédéric De Coninck (CEO), Rémi Rosière (CSO), and Pr. Karim Amighi (Scientific Advisor, inventor on 15 patents).

Name

InhaTarget Therapeutics

Legal name

InhaTarget Therapeutics SRL

Website

https://inhatarget.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

InhaTarget Therapeutics is a Belgian clinical-stage biotech spun out of ULB in 2019 that develops inhaled dry powder and nanomedicine formulations for severe respiratory diseases, with a lead cisplatin-based DPI product (CIS-DPI) in Phase I/IIa trials for Stage IV NSCLC.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Inhaled Oncology Therapeutics

NAICS

Pharmaceutical Preparation Manufacturing (325412), Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing (32541)

SIC

Pharmaceutical Preparations (2834)

akta.pro primary industry

Pulmonology & Allergy Specialty Pharmaceuticals (HLAIACAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Respiratory & Allergy Pharmaceuticals (HLAIAAAH)

Keywords

• Inhaled oncology therapeutics
• Dry powder inhalation
• Lung cancer chemotherapy
• Pulmonary drug delivery
• Nanomedicine immunotherapy

Headquarters

HQ city

Bruyelle

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Inhaled Chemotherapy Products: InhaTarget is developing a pipeline of inhaled chemotherapy products (CIS-DPI as lead product, plus two preclinical-stage inhaled chemo compounds) for the treatment of lung cancer. Revenue would be generated through product sales following regulatory approval, likely commercialized via pharma partnerships or licensing deals given the oncology hospital/clinic administration model.
2. Inhaled Immunotherapy (STING Pathway Nanomedicine): A breakthrough first-in-class inhaled immunotherapy targeting the STING pathway for lung cancer and potentially other pulmonary diseases. This product is currently in preclinical development. Revenue model would involve licensing or co-development partnerships with larger pharmaceutical companies upon demonstration of clinical efficacy.
3. Non-dilutive Public Funding: The company has received multiple rounds of non-dilutive public funding: €2.8M completed with Series A1 (December 2019) and €4.5M completed with Series A2 (June 2022), from regional public funding bodies such as Wallonia, to support R&D and clinical development activities.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

InhaTarget Therapeutics develops innovative inhalation formulations (dry powder for inhalation and nanomedicine-based delivery) to improve treatment of severe respiratory diseases, with a primary focus on lung cancer. The lead asset CIS-DPI is a cisplatin-based dry powder administered 5 times weekly at home in combination with standard-of-care immunotherapy for first-line Stage IV NSCLC patients, currently in Phase I/IIa clinical trials across 5 Belgian hospital sites. The pipeline additionally includes two preclinical inhaled chemotherapy compounds and a first-in-class inhaled STING-pathway immunotherapy nanomedicine.

Product overview

InhaTarget Therapeutics develops a portfolio of innovative inhalation formulations for severe respiratory diseases, with initial focus on lung cancer. The core portfolio consists of CIS-DPI, a lead cisplatin-based dry powder formulation for inhalation currently in Phase I/IIa clinical trials, supported by two additional inhaled chemotherapy products at preclinical stage. The company also develops a breakthrough STING pathway immunotherapy based on inhaled nanomedicine, currently in preclinical development. All products leverage pulmonary delivery to overcome systemic limitations and improve patient outcomes.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CIS-DPI Cisplatin-based dry powder formulation for inhalation administered 5 times weekly at the patient's home in combination with standard-of-care immunotherapy (pembrolizumab with or without IV chemotherapy) for first-line treatment of Stage IV Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer patients. Currently in Phase I/IIa clinical trial (CIS-DPI-01) in Belgium.
• STING Pathway Inhaled Immunotherapy First-in-class inhaled nanomedicine targeting the STING (stimulator of interferon gene) pathway for anti-tumour immune response; functionalized nanocarrier encapsulates STING agonists and targets immunosuppressive tumor-associated macrophages and dendritic cells to convert them to a pro-inflammatory phenotype and induce systemic anti-tumour immunity, with potential applications beyond lung cancer including respiratory viral infections.
• Other Inhaled Chemotherapy Products (Preclinical Pipeline) Two additional inhaled chemotherapy compounds at preclinical development stage targeting different patient populations (squamous NSCLC, non-squamous NSCLC, adenocarcinoma) through specific formulations for the inhalation route, leveraging InhaTarget's particle-engineering dry-powder platform.

Quantifiable outcome

• CIS-DPI administered 5 times weekly at home (vs. every 3 weeks for conventional IV cisplatin), enabling significantly higher treatment frequency through bypass of systemic toxicities
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Institut Jules BordetcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2023Institut Jules Bordet (Brussels, Belgium) is one of the 5 hospital sites conducting the CIS-DPI-01 Phase I/IIa clinical trial. Principal investigator: Pr. Thierry Berghmans. As a leading cancer center in Belgium, Institut Jules Bordet provides clinical trial infrastructure and oncology expertise for the investigation of CIS-DPI in stage IV NSCLC patients.
• AZ DeltacoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2023AZ Delta (Roeselare, Belgium) is a clinical trial site for the CIS-DPI-01 Phase I/IIa trial. Principal investigator: Pr. Ingel Demedts. AZ Delta provides clinical operations infrastructure for investigating CIS-DPI in stage IV NSCLC patients.
• CHU Ambroise ParécoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2023CHU Ambroise Paré (Mons, Belgium) is a clinical trial site for the CIS-DPI-01 Phase I/IIa trial. Principal investigator: Dr. Stephane Holbrechts. The hospital provides oncology clinical trial capabilities for the investigation of inhaled cisplatin in lung cancer patients.
• Grand Hôpital de Charleroi (GHdC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2023Grand Hôpital de Charleroi (Charleroi, Belgium) is a clinical trial site for the CIS-DPI-01 Phase I/IIa trial. Principal investigator: Dr. Benoît Colinet. Located in the same region as the company's headquarters, GHdC provides clinical trial infrastructure for the CIS-DPI investigation.
• CHU LiègecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2023CHU Liège (Liège, Belgium) is a clinical trial site for the CIS-DPI-01 Phase I/IIa trial. Principal investigator: Dr. Anne Sibille. CHU Liège provides oncology clinical trial capabilities for the investigation of inhaled cisplatin-based dry powder in combination with standard-of-care immunotherapy in stage IV NSCLC.
• SMB TechnologycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2019SMB Technology is a Belgian-based pharmaceutical company specialized in innovative drug formulations, particularly respiratory products based on Dry Powder for Inhalation (DPI) technologies. SMB Technology is represented on InhaTarget's Board of Directors by Mrs. Caroline Baudier (Managing Director), bringing solid expertise in inhalation project development. SMB is part of the SMB group dedicated to R&D and production of innovative pharmaceutical products using advanced drug delivery solutions.
• University of Brussels (ULB)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 August 2019InhaTarget Therapeutics is a spin-off company from the University of Brussels (ULB), specifically from the Unit of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics led by Pr. Karim Amighi and Pr. Nathalie Wauthoz. The technology platform underlying the company's activities is the result of more than 15 years of research at ULB. The company's scientific advisors and co-founders are affiliated with ULB, and the Brussels office is located at ULB Campus de la Plaine.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Vectura Group: Vectura is a UK-based specialty inhaled drug delivery company developing DPI and nebulized formulations for respiratory diseases, comparable to InhaTarget's inhaled chemo and pulmonary delivery platform. Now owned by Philip Morris, it represents the type of strategic acquirer/licensor that InhaTarget's assets could attract.

Direct peers

• Pulmatrix: Pulmatrix is a US clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing inhaled therapies for respiratory diseases using proprietary dry powder and iSPERSE technology. Directly comparable as a small-cap inhaled drug delivery peer with similar business model and platform-based pipeline approach.
• Savara Inc: Savara is a clinical-stage specialty pharma developing inhaled therapies for rare respiratory diseases (e.g., molgramostim nebulization). Comparable as a small-cap inhaled therapeutic company pursuing hospital-administered and home-administered inhaled biologics/small molecules for serious pulmonary conditions.
• TFF Pharmaceuticals: TFF Pharmaceuticals applies thin-film freezing technology to enable dry powder inhalation of molecules that are otherwise difficult to deliver to the lungs. Directly comparable as a platform-based inhaled drug delivery company pursuing multiple indications including oncology and infectious disease.
• Aradigm Corporation: Aradigm developed inhaled liposomal ciprofloxacin (Aeroquin) and other inhaled therapeutics for severe respiratory infections. Comparable as a clinical-stage inhaled specialty pharma focused on serious pulmonary diseases, though it has since wound down commercial operations.
• Civitas Therapeutics: Civitas Therapeutics developed inhaled levodopa (ARCUS) for Parkinson's disease using a dry powder pulmonary delivery platform. Directly comparable as a small clinical-stage inhaled specialty pharma acquired by Acorda Therapeutics — representative of typical exit pathway for this peer group.

Emerging players

• Aprea Therapeutics: Aprea is a clinical-stage oncology biotech developing small molecules that reactivate tumor suppressor p53. Comparable as a similarly-sized clinical-stage oncology biotech, though with a different delivery modality (oral/systemic vs. inhaled).
• Synspira Therapeutics: Synspira develops inhaled glycopolymer-based therapies for cystic fibrosis and other chronic respiratory diseases. Comparable as a niche inhaled therapeutic company focused on serious pulmonary indications with similar formulation technology approach.
• Novocure: Novocure develops Tumor Treating Fields, an alternative physical modality for solid tumors including NSCLC. Comparable as a later-stage commercial-stage oncology company that built a niche around non-chemo/non-systemic treatment of lung cancer — relevant for understanding the commercial opportunity for non-systemic lung cancer therapies.

Others

• SMB Technology: Belgian pharmaceutical company specialized in DPI formulation and inhalation product development; InhaTarget's Board partner and effective CDMO. Comparable as a domain peer and key ecosystem enabler for inhaled drug development in the same geography.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/inhatarget
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/inhatarget-therapeutics

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about InhaTarget Therapeutics