- €500,000 EU-funded project will advance EXO-OTO-01, Exogenus’ exosome-based therapeutic candidate for the prevention of platinum chemotherapy-induced hearing loss
- Programme will generate key preclinical efficacy and safety data, optimise delivery to the inner ear and advance manufacturing and regulatory readiness
- EXO-OTOProtect aims to prepare EXO-OTO-01 for future clinical development, addressing a major unmet need among cancer patients
Cantanhede, Portugal, 1 July 2026 – Exogenus Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing extracellular vesicle-enriched secretome therapeutics, today announced the launch of EXO-OTOProtect, a 20-month, €500,000 project funded by the European Union through the Horizon Europe EIC Pre-Accelerator programme. The project will advance EXO-OTO-01, an experimental exosome-based therapy designed to prevent hearing loss caused by platinum-based chemotherapy.
Platinum-based chemotherapy agents such as cisplatin are widely used to treat solid tumours and have contributed significantly to improved cancer survival. However, their use can cause irreversible damage to the inner ear, with hearing loss affecting approximately 40–60% of adult patients treated with cisplatin. There remains a major unmet need for therapies capable of protecting hearing in adult cancer patients without compromising cancer treatment.
EXO-OTOProtect will support the preclinical development of EXO-OTO-01, a therapeutic candidate derived from umbilical cord blood and based on Exogenus’ extracellular vesicle technology. Preclinical studies have already provided early evidence of hearing protection following local administration. The project aims to build on these findings by generating further efficacy and local safety data, optimising a clinically translatable route of administration and advancing the product’s manufacturing and characterisation.
Joana Correia, PhD, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Exogenus Therapeutics, said: “Hearing loss can be a permanent and life-changing consequence of otherwise successful cancer treatment. With EXO-OTOProtect, we have the opportunity to advance a new therapeutic approach designed to protect the inner ear while patients receive the chemotherapy they need. This European funding will allow us to generate critical preclinical, manufacturing and regulatory evidence for EXO-OTO-01 and take an important step towards future clinical development.”
Chemotherapy-induced hearing loss results from multiple, interconnected mechanisms, including oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, DNA damage, inflammation and apoptosis, which ultimately lead to irreversible cochlear damage. EXO-OTO-01 is being developed as a multifactorial therapeutic approach capable of addressing this complex biology rather than a single disease pathway.
The EXO-OTOProtect programme encompasses GMP-like production and characterisation, optimisation of the administration strategy, preclinical efficacy and local safety studies, regulatory development, and activities supporting intellectual property, freedom-to-operate, market positioning and future commercialisation.
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For further information, contact:
Exogenus Therapeutics
team@exogenus-t.com
EXO-OTOProtect
www.exo-otoprotect.eu
About Exogenus Therapeutics
Exogenus is a developer of multifactorial, disease-modifying biologics with wide potential application in regenerative medicine indications. Exogenus is harnessing the regenerative signals found in extracellular vesicle-enriched secretomes to develop scalable GMP biologic medicines that restore healthier tissue function. The company has attracted private investment and secured non-dilutive funding supporting the development of its therapeutic pipeline.