Harnessing natural messengers for innovative therapeutics
Ciloa is a pioneer in the bioengineering of extracellular vesicles to develop new generations of therapeutics and preventive solutions to improve patients' lives.
The human body has developed extremely powerful and sophisticated tools for internal communication: small extracellular vesicles (sEVs, exosomes). sEVs are secreted by all types of cells and organs to communicate distantly with other organs and change their fate. sEVs can be thought as natural postal packages with an address made up of proteins and a message made up of proteins and RNA.
Ciloa bioengineers sEV proteins, to turn them into natural messengers with huge medical potential. The unique power of these messengers makes it possible to achieve highly effective therapeutic or preventive benefits with tiny amounts of sEVs, corresponding to affordable costs for the maximum of patients.
Our bioengineered sEVs can be used as therapeutic solutions in a number of medical fields, including oncology, metabolic diseases, rare diseases and age-related illnesses. They can also be used as vaccines by mimicking viruses, helping to tackle emerging viral pandemics.
Metabolic diseases, our lead target
Mastering sEV engineering, we have produced sEVs containing a stable, highly multimerised and functional adiponectin (APN), a hormone well known as our “Guardian Angel” for its insulin-sensitizing, anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative stress properties.
APN-sEVs reveal spectacular effects on obesity and diabetes, characterised by a decrease in circulating adiponectin, acting not only on the recovery of insulin sensitivity, but also on lipogenesis and lipid oxidation. Exceptionally, APN-sEVs protect muscles, helping to maintain all lean body mass.
Unique and robust bioengineering platform
Ciloa’s platform, EVENGI, has generated over a hundred sEVs containing various proteins of medical interest. The main current applications are in metabolic diseases, vaccines against emerging viral threats and oncology.
Highly efficient and reliable EV production platform
sEV production is notoriously challenging. Thanks to our 20 years’ experience in the field of EVs, we have developed a robust sEV production, purification and qualification process that can be scaled up under industrial conditions. This EV production platform has enabled us to produce dozens of bioengineered sEVs that are stable in the refrigerator for years as ready-to-use, affordable medicines.