Exogenus Therapeutics leads a €13 million EU-funded consortium to advance a new secretome-based therapy for osteoarthritis

• ExoCordOA, a five-year project, led by Exogenus Therapeutics and backed by Horizon Europe, brings together ten organisations spanning biotechnology, clinical development, regulation, GMP manufacturing, imaging, academia and healthcare
• Consortium will advance EXO-101 towards clinical validation as a potential disease-modifying treatment for osteoarthritis
• Programme also aims to address scientific, manufacturing, quality-control and regulatory barriers across the extracellular vesicle and secretome therapeutics field
  

CANTANHEDE, Portugal, Oct. 29, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The ExoCordOA consortium today announced the launch of a five-year, €13 million project, funded by Horizon Europe to advance extracellular vesicle-enriched secretome therapies towards clinical use, with an initial focus on osteoarthritis.

Led by Exogenus Therapeutics, ExoCordOA brings together ten organisations with complementary expertise across biotechnology, clinical and regulatory development, GMP manufacturing, medical imaging, academia and healthcare. The consortium will combine these capabilities to support the development of a new secretome-based medicine for osteoarthritis and help build the foundations for Europe’s leadership in secretome-based therapeutics.

A central objective is to advance Exogenus’ lead candidate, EXO-101, towards clinical validation as a potential disease-modifying treatment for osteoarthritis. The programme will support the candidate’s Phase I and II clinical development while also addressing key scientific, manufacturing, quality-control and regulatory challenges that currently limit the clinical translation of extracellular vesicle and secretome therapies.   The consortium aims to resolve systemic bottlenecks by helping to develop more standardised approaches, robust analytical and potency assessment methods, and a clearer regulatory pathway for future secretome-based medicines.

Joana Correia, PhD, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Exogenus Therapeutics, said: “ExoCordOA brings together the expertise needed not only to advance EXO-101 towards clinical validation in osteoarthritis, but also to tackle barriers affecting the wider secretome therapeutics field. As project coordinator, Exogenus is proud to lead this collaborative European effort to estalish stronger scientific, manufacturing and regulatory foundations for a new generation of regenerative medicines.”

The project forms part of a wider European effort to accelerate the clinical translation, standardisation and regulatory development of secretome-based therapies. The European Commission’s dedicated Horizon Europe funding call reflects the strategic importance it places on this emerging field and on building European innovation and leadership in advanced regenerative and anti-inflammatory therapeutics.

The ExoCordOA consortium is coordinated by Exogenus Therapeutics and comprises: Lonza, Anthony Nolan, Eliquent Life Sciences, iLoF - Intelligent Lab on Fiber, Utrecht University, University Medical Center Utrecht, Maastricht University Medical Center+, Image Analysis Group and ReumaNederland.

Osteoarthritis is a leading cause of disability worldwide. It affects ~8% of the global population, primarily women, with prevalence expected to rise as populations age, and there are currently no approved disease-modifying osteoarthritis drugs (DMOADs), leaving patients reliant on symptom management and, ultimately, joint replacement. As a potential DMOAD, EXO-101 could slow or prevent disease progression, address a significant unmet need and reduce reliance on invasive surgery.

For further information, contact:

Exogenus
[email protected] 

Media Enquiries

Optimum Strategic Communications
Nick Bastin, Eleanor Cooper, Charlotte Hepburne-Scott and Katherine Bliss
+44 20 3922 1906
[email protected]

About ExoCordOA
ExoCordOA is a five-year, €13 million Horizon Europe project led by Exogenus Therapeutics. The consortium brings together ten organisations with complementary expertise across biotechnology, clinical and regulatory development, GMP manufacturing, medical imaging, academia and healthcare. Alongside advancing EXO-101 towards clinical validation in osteoarthritis, the project aims to address scientific, manufacturing, analytical, quality-control and regulatory challenges affecting the wider clinical translation of extracellular vesicle and secretome-based therapeutics. ExoCordOA is funded by the European Union under Horizon Europe Grant Agreement No. 101288259.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the granting authority. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

About Exogenus Therapeutics
Exogenus is a developer of multifactorial, disease modifying biologics with wide potential application in regenerative medicine indications, including osteoarthritis. 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, secured non-dilutive funding supporting the clinical development of EXO-101 through Phase II, and collaborated with biotech and pharmaceutical industry leaders, including Lonza and Boehringer Ingelheim.

About EXO-101
Its lead candidate, EXO-101, is a potential treatment for osteoarthritis, a major unmet need with no approved disease-modifying therapies affecting around 8% of the world’s population, primarily women. Derived from native, non-engineered umbilical cord blood cells, EXO-101 contains proteins, microRNAs and lipids designed to act across multiple disease pathways, support joint health and delay the need for replacement. EXO-101 is produced using a standardised, scalable and GMP-compatible manufacturing process. First-in-human clinical phase 1b studies in patients with moderate osteoarthritis are expected to start in early 2028.

EXO-101’s second EU-funded programme, EXO-OTOProtect, targets platinum-chemotherapy-induced hearing loss, an irreversible, dose-limiting toxicity affecting 50–60% of treated patients. At preclinical proof-of-concept stage, EXO-101 is designed to preserve cochlear outer hair cells and tackle the multiple pathological pathways underlying ototoxic injury.

Beyond these lead indications, EXO-101 has shown early proof-of-concept in lung fibrosis and in broader liver and renal fibrosis programmes, which remain in internal development.

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