Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS, kills the motor neurons that control muscles and leads to progressive paralysis. BrainEver, founded in Paris in 2015 by Bernard Gilly and the Collège de France neuroscientist Alain Prochiantz, is developing Engrailed-1, a homeoprotein, one of a family of natural proteins that it says can reactivate the repair capacity of damaged neurons.
The European Innovation Council granted €2,500,000 towards HOMEOBRAIN, a €5.52 million project that ran from November 2022 to October 2024. According to the CORDIS report, animal toxicity studies showed "an overall good tolerability profile", and the company discussed its trial protocol with Dutch regulators in 2024. In July 2025 BrainEver raised €33 million in a Series B co-led by Critical Path Ventures and the EIC, to start a Phase I/II trial in ALS at Utrecht University "by the end of 2025". As of September 2026 no BrainEver ALS trial appears on ClinicalTrials.gov.
Company file
- Legal entity
- BrainEver, SIREN 810 542 506, Paris
- Founded
- 26 March 2015
- Founders
- Bernard Gilly (CEO), Alain Prochiantz (CSO)
- Lead candidate
- Engrailed-1 (hEN1) for ALS; OTX2 for eye diseases
- Investors
- Critical Path Ventures, EIC, iBionext, Relyens, Bpifrance, Tudigo crowd
- EIC project
- HOMEOBRAIN, 1 Nov 2022 to 31 Oct 2024, closed
- EIC funding
- Grant first; EIC co-led the 2025 Series B
Where BrainEver Stands Today
The July 2025 release gave two timelines: a Phase I/II trial "set to begin by the end of 2025" in Utrecht, and, in its "About" section, a lead candidate "expected to enter clinical development in 2026". A search of ClinicalTrials.gov in September 2026 finds only one BrainEver-sponsored study, a 2019 Parkinson's study marked as terminated. The French register shows capital increases in 2025 and in February and June 2026, and no insolvency proceedings.
The Technology: Proteins That Travel Between Cells
The CORDIS report calls Engrailed-1 "the first homeoprotein developed therapeutically" and notes that the family has about 300 members, so success could open a platform; a second candidate, OTX2, is aimed at glaucoma and macular degeneration. Only animal data exist so far.
"This funding is a pivotal step that enables us to initiate our first clinical trial and accelerate validation of our ALS therapy."
Bernard Gilly, co-founder and CEO, BrainEver, July 2025What the EIC Project Promised, and What CORDIS Shows
HOMEOBRAIN promised "homeoproteins as novel therapies for neurodegenerative diseases". The report shows the preclinical groundwork: animal toxicity at several high doses given every two weeks, with no adverse behavioural or clinical events, and a regulatory consultation in the Netherlands. It did not take the protein into people, and two years after the project ended no trial appears on ClinicalTrials.gov.
- Animal safety studiesDeliveredGood tolerability, per CORDIS.
- Regulatory preparationDeliveredDutch consultation, 2024.
- First human trialNot startedDue end of 2025; not on ClinicalTrials.gov.
What Has Happened Since the Award
The Series B brought in Critical Path Ventures and the EIC as co-leads, with existing investors iBionext and Relyens and individual investors through the Tudigo crowdfunding platform. The accounts show the team falling from 16 people in 2022 to 10 in 2024, and the annual loss falling to €2.08 million in 2024.
The Money
BrainEver's net losses recorded by Pappers were €3.94 million in 2021, €4.58 million in 2022, €4.62 million in 2023 and €2.08 million in 2024. How much of the €33 million came from the EIC has not been disclosed.
What cannot be checked
The EIC's share of the Series B, whether the Utrecht trial has received approval, and when the first patient will be dosed are not public.
Why Europe Should Care
The EIC has put grant and equity into a French platform built on public research at the Collège de France and the CNRS. Its value to patients depends on a first human trial that was promised for 2025 and has not yet appeared in the public registry.
What the project promised
Homeoproteins as new therapies for neurodegenerative diseases, starting with ALS.
What the record shows
Animal safety data, a €33M round co-led by the EIC, and no human trial on ClinicalTrials.gov by September 2026.
The Verdict
Funded for the clinic, not yet in it
HOMEOBRAIN finished the preclinical work that a first trial needs, and the EIC then helped fund that trial. The trial itself is late against the company's own timeline, and until it runs, the approach remains untested in people.
BrainEver has not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on company statements, French company data, clinical registries and EU project data, linked throughout.
