PannTheraPi, registered in Nîmes in 2021, develops PTI5803, an extended-release form of probenecid, an old gout drug, to block the pannexin 1 channel, which its scientific founders found drives seizures in brain tissue removed from patients with drug-resistant epilepsy. It was selected in the EIC Accelerator's March 2023 cut-off and received an EU grant of €2.50 million for PANNEXIN, a €4.08 million project that ran from October 2023 to March 2026, according to CORDIS. The goal was a first study in healthy volunteers, "and then a first study in patients allowing to evaluate the efficient dose and the safety", according to the CORDIS reporting page.
The Phase 1 study started in July 2024 at a single centre in France. In August 2025 the company said it had shown the safety of PTI5803, its extended-release profile and "the first signs of activity on the target via biomarkers", and that the European Medicines Agency had validated its paediatric plan, according to a release on BioSpace. The Phase 1 data have not been published. The patient study was approved by the French medicines agency ANSM on 8 September 2026, six months after the EIC project ended, according to GlobeNewswire.
Company file
- Legal entity
- PannTheraPi SAS, SIREN 895315877, Nîmes
- President
- Dr Luc-André Granier
- General manager and CSO
- Sophie Binay, from April 2026
- Scientific founders
- Dr Nathalie Rouach, Dr Gilles Huberfeld
- Lead candidate
- PTI5803, extended-release probenecid
- First indication
- Focal cortical dysplasia
- EIC funding
- Grant first
Where PannTheraPi Stands Now
PannTheraPi is active in the French company register, which puts its workforce at three to five employees and lists Luc-André Granier as president, according to recherche-entreprises. Its accounts are filed but no figures appear in the free data. The Phase 2a will test three doses in adults and adolescents at four French epilepsy centres, with safety as the main goal and seizure frequency as a secondary one. In April 2026 the company filed the trial, announced a granted European patent for the use in epilepsy, and appointed Sophie Binay as general manager and chief scientific officer, according to PannTheraPi.
"The current funding round targets €10 million, with the possibility of the EIC Accelerator contributing up to half this amount in the form of an equity investment."
PannTheraPi, August 2025The Technology: Blocking a Seizure Channel
The founders, neuroscientists at the Collège de France and a Paris hospital, kept tissue removed in epilepsy surgery alive and found it still produced seizures. A channel called pannexin 1 was overactive in that tissue, and blocking it stopped seizures in more than 80% of cases in the tissue and in an animal model, the first report says. Probenecid, approved decades ago for gout, blocks the channel; PannTheraPi's contribution is a long-release formulation made with Recipharm and suitable for children. It is also developing new molecules for the same target.
What the EIC Award Promised, and What the Record Shows
The award promised a Phase 1 study and a first study in patients, with compassionate use targeted for 2027. The Phase 1 and the paediatric plan were delivered, though the first report noted delays. The patient study was filed after the project ended and approved in September 2026. No final report is on CORDIS, and the Phase 1 results are known only from company statements.
- Paediatric formulationDeliveredSelected end of 2023.
- Phase 1 studyDeliveredPositive, per company.
- Paediatric plan with EMADeliveredValidated, per company.
- First patient studyLateApproved after project end.
The Money
The EU paid 61% of the project. In August 2025 PannTheraPi said it was raising €10 million to fund the Phase 2a, with up to half possibly from the EIC as equity, and that Granier would step down as chairman once the round closed. In September 2026 he was still described as president, and no closing has been announced. The company has not disclosed how much private money it raised before, beyond naming Bpifrance and "independent investors" as supporters.
What Cannot Be Checked
Questions for the EIC
Whether the EIC Fund has invested, whether the €10 million round has closed, what the Phase 1 data show, and why no final report is on CORDIS are not public.
Why Europe Should Care
Focal cortical dysplasia is one of the main causes of drug-resistant epilepsy in children. Repurposing a known drug can cut development time and cost. PannTheraPi has taken a French academic finding into the clinic on a small budget; whether it works in patients is the question the Phase 2a has yet to answer.
What the award promised
A Phase 1 study and a first study in patients within the project.
What the record shows
A completed Phase 1 and a patient trial approved six months after the project ended.
The Verdict
Half the plan, on a delay
PannTheraPi delivered the first human study the EIC funded. The patient trial slipped past the project and depends on money it has not yet raised.
PannTheraPi and the EIC have not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on public records and published statements, linked throughout.
