Eligo Bioscience

Based in France, Eligo Bioscience develops novel microbiome gene editing therapies across various therapeutic areas including autoimmunology, dermatology, and oncology using the CRISPR technology including base editing. The company’s approach entails editing microbiome gene ​​repertoire to add or remove genes to support disease treatment. For this, it designs small biotherapeutics dubbed eligobiotics, made out of DNA and proteins to target specific parts of the bacteria.

The company has not revealed its complete pipeline of therapeutic programs. It leverages its three proprietary eligobiotics platforms: 1) Sequence-Specific Anti-Microbials (SSAM) to deliver CRISPR-Cas9 nucleases and the corresponding guide RNA into the genome, which will only eliminate the unfavorable parts of the bacteria and leave the favorable ones unaffected; 2) Gene-Editing of the Microbiome (GEM) platform to deliver base editors into the bacteria to modify the genome, without destroying the bacteria; and 3) Function Addition to the MicrobiomE (FAME) to deliver a therapeutic gene into the microbiome to trigger existing microbial populations to stimulate a therapeutic impact in the body.

Key customers and partnerships

Eligo entered into a USD 224 million partnership with GlaxoSmithKline in January 2021 to leverage its eligobiotics technology to prevent acne vulgaris, a skin condition, and received funding for its acne program EB0005. Both parties also planned to enter into a licensing and collaboration agreement. 

In June 2020, Eligo Bioscience secured USD 7.1 million investment—including milestone payments—from CARB-X , a global non-profit organization, to develop highly specific antimicrobials to prevent multi-drug-resistant bacterial infections in organ transplant patients. 

Funding and financials

In December 2023, Eligo Bioscience raised USD 30 million in a Series B funding round led by Sanofi Ventures, with participation from new investor Bpifrance (through its InnoBio 2 fund) and existing investors Khosla Ventures and Seventure Partners. The proceeds were set aside to accelerate the development of Eligo’s primary program, EB005, designed for acute acne and to facilitate pre-Investigational New Drug (IND) and IND activities to achieve early human data readouts in a Phase Ib/IIa clinical trial. The funding was also set aside to support Eligo’s expansion into other chronic diseases, including oncology.