PORTFOLIO

Osteoarthritis is the most common joint disease in the world with over 500 million patients. However, today's treatments only manage the symptoms for a while, but do nothing to slow the disease itself. CloudLi-1 is designed to fill this gap. It combines an anti-inflammatory peptide formulation with lipid-based nanoparticles to form microcushions that keep the therapy active locally inside the joint for longer, while also helping reduce cartilage friction and wear. Developed at the University of Bern and advanced by the spin-out Eldian Biomed, CloudLi-1 has shown encouraging results in animal models, including pain relief and signals of joint protection. The goal now is to confirm the same mechanism in human joint tissue, turning a promising animal-stage discovery into a single injection that both relieves pain and slows the progression of osteoarthritis.

With the support of the GRS InnoBooster grant, Eldian Biomed is building the human-translation package for CloudLi-1: the work confirms how the peptide's anti-inflammatory mechanism acts on human osteoarthritic joint tissue and links it to the pain relief and joint protection already seen in animals. This is the decisive bridge from animal-stage proof toward the clinic and toward partnering. The animal efficacy programme continues in parallel with non-dilutive support from funders such as Innosuisse, while InnoBooster funds the human primary material step that other funding cannot cover. The project builds on encouraging in vivo results, is supported within the Venture Kick track, and has so far secured more than CHF 1.25 million in non-dilutive funding, alongside growing interest from clinical and industry partners.