The ExoCordOA consortium has launched a five‑year, €13 million Horizon Europe project to advance extracellular vesicle‑enriched secretome therapies towards clinical use, beginning with osteoarthritis.
Led by Exogenus Therapeutics, the initiative brings together ten organisations spanning biotechnology, clinical development, regulation, GMP manufacturing, imaging, academia and healthcare.
The consortium will combine these capabilities to support development of a new secretome‑based medicine for osteoarthritis and strengthen Europe’s position in regenerative and anti‑inflammatory therapeutics. A central objective is to progress Exogenus’ lead candidate, EXO‑101, towards clinical validation as a potential disease‑modifying treatment.
The programme will back the candidate’s phase 1 and 2 clinical development while addressing scientific, manufacturing, quality‑control and regulatory challenges that currently limit clinical translation of extracellular vesicle and secretome therapies.
It aims to resolve systemic bottlenecks by supporting 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.”
She added: “As project coordinator, Exogenus is proud to lead this collaborative European effort to establish stronger scientific, manufacturing and regulatory foundations for a new generation of regenerative medicines.”
The consortium includes Lonza, Anthony Nolan, Eliquent Life Sciences, iLoF, Utrecht University, University Medical Center Utrecht, Maastricht University Medical Center+, Image Analysis Group and ReumaNederland.
