Aeterna Therapeutics is developing a transformative therapeutic platform called EternaBody, a first-in-class technology that stabilizes short-lived endogenous peptides, hormones, and cytokines without neutralizing their biological activity. By reversibly binding small proteins, EternaBodies dramatically extend half-life, reduce renal clearance, and enable tissue-specific targeting through modular bispecific designs. This approach addresses a foundational limitation in endocrinology and metabolic disease: the rapid degradation and clearance of key hormones that require frequent or high-dose administration, resulting in suboptimal efficacy, side effects, and poor patient adherence. Additionally, we are expanding the platform into oncology and immunological conditions. The platform unlocks more consistent pharmacokinetics, improved receptor engagement, and sustained therapeutic action while avoiding immune interference. EternaBody therapeutics offer a fundamentally new modality: stable, long-acting, tissue-directed versions of naturally occurring molecules that drive human physiology. This creates the potential for best-in-class therapies with improved safety, superior patient convenience, and strong commercial differentiation.

‍UNMET NEED
Many diseases rely on short-lived hormones and cytokines that are rapidly cleared from circulation by the kidneys due to their small molecular size. Existing therapeutic strategies require frequent injections, high dosing, or chemical modifications that can alter native function. These limitations reduce efficacy, compromise patient adherence, and create barriers to achieving optimal therapeutic levels. For diseases such as pediatric growth hormone deficiency, obesity, MASH/NAFLD, type1 diabetes, and rare metabolic disorders, the need for more stable, predictable, and long-acting biologics remains unmet.

Current technologies, including PEGylation, Fc-fusion, and albumin-binding approaches, provide partial solutions but often introduce immunogenicity, reduce receptor activity, or lack tissue-specific targeting. These methods also cannot be broadly applied across diverse hormone classes because they require re-engineering the endogenous molecule.

Patients need therapies that maintain the native form of the hormone, preserve biological activity, extend half-life, and optionally enable targeted delivery to sites of disease or regeneration. Clinicians need options with simplified dosing, fewer injections, improved safety, and predictable pharmacodynamics. A platform capable of stabilizing multiple classes of therapeutic hormones without altering their natural sequence would enable a new generation of treatments.

INNOVATION
Aeterna Therapeutics' EternaBody platform is a fundamentally new modality in biologics design. Unlike neutralizing antibodies, EternaBodies reversibly bind native peptides, hormones, and cytokines to:

·       Extend half-life by increasing effective size and preventing renal clearance

·       Preserve biological activity through non-neutralizing epitope selection

·       Maintain free hormone availability via tuned affinity and off-rate kinetics

·       Enable tissue-specific targeting using bispecific constructs

·       Avoid sequence modification of the native protein

·       Reduce immunogenicity relative to chemical or engineered fusion approaches

·       Provide modularity to rapidly generate new therapeutics across multiple disease areas

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APPLICATION/UTILITIES

Application 1: Metabolic and Endocrine Disorders

The platform enables stabilization of small, rapidly cleared endogenous molecules involved in metabolic and endocrine regulation, improving half-life, bioavailability, and dosing convenience across multiple disease areas.

Application 2: Regenerative Medicine and Immune Modulation

EternaBodies can be engineered to deliver native biological signals in a sustained and tissue-directed manner, supporting applications in tissue repair, transplantation, and modulation of localized immune environments.

Application 3: Chronic Inflammatory and Autoimmune Conditions

The platform supports development of long-acting, physiologically aligned agents that restore immune balance without suppressing systemic immunity.

Application 4: Oncology and Cell Signaling Therapies

By stabilizing naturally short-lived signaling molecules, EternaBodies can enhance pharmacokinetic (PK) profiles and enable more effective tumor-specific or microenvironment-specific biologic interventions.

‍INVESTMENT OBJECTIVES
$3M – $8M required to:

·       Advance two lead candidates through IND-enabling studies

·       Complete antibody discovery, affinity tuning, PK characterization, and epitope validation

·       Conduct pilot NHP studies for metabolic and growth hormone programs

·       Develop bispecific targeting arms for immunology and oncology indications

·       Strengthen IP, expand platform datasets, and finalize manufacturability assessment

·       Prepare for Phase 1 clinical studies

‍COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

Aeterna’s platform distinguishes itself through:

·       Non-neutralizing, reversible binding of native hormones

·       Preservation of biological function without modifying the peptide sequence

·       Superior half-life extension compared to PEGylation, fusions, or depot formulations

·       Modular bispecific design enabling disease-site targeting

·       Low immunogenicity using fully human/common-light-chain antibodies

·       Applicability across dozens of hormones and cytokines

·       Fast development timelines due to plug-and-play antibody generation

The platform’s versatility and safety profile position Aeterna to create multiple best-in-classtherapeutics from a single discovery engine.

‍MARKET SIZE
The platform spans multiple large and growing global markets including metabolicdisease, endocrine disorders, regenerative medicine, immune modulation, andoncology. These markets collectively represent hundreds of billions in annualrevenue and demonstrate strong demand for long-acting, physiologically alignedtherapies.

‍CURRENT READINESS LEVEL
Pre-clinical.Lead binders identified for multiple classes of endogenous molecules.Preliminary PK data generated in vivo. Ongoing manufacturability andIND-enabling planning.

‍SCIENTIFIC FOUNDER(S)/INVENTOR(S):

Dr. Maria Kondratyev  is a CEO and founder of Aeterna Therapeutics. Dr. Kondratyev is a former post-doctoral fellow, later senior scientist at the laboratory of Dr. Brad Wouters. She is a leader in the field of cell biology, immunology, metabolism, and drug discovery with over 25 years of experience. She has been leading all research and administrative activities at Aeterna since its inception and has been working on developing the EternaBody technology for the past 4+ years.  With a PhD in Biochemistry from McMaster University in Canada and an MBA in Management and Entrepreneurship from Smith School of Business, Kingston, Maria possesses a unique set of skills bridging scientific achievements with business development expertise.

Dr. Brad Wouters  is a co-founder and scientific advisor for Aeterna. Dr. Wouters is the Executive Vice President, Science and Research at UHN and a Senior Scientist at UHN’s Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, and a Professor in the Department of Medical Biophysics and the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Toronto.

Additionally, the EternaBody platform is currently being developed by the Aeterna Therapeutics scientific team in collaboration with external advisors in immunology, antibody discovery, and metabolic disease therapeutic development.