Montpellier, France, Paris, France and Boston, USA – June 23, 2026 – Cilcare, a biotechnology company focused on developing novel therapies for hearing disorders, announces an update of its license agreement covering its two lead programs, CIL001 and CIL003, on improved financial terms, alongside inclusion of a leading global pharmaceutical company as a minority shareholder.
Key Highlights:
- Updated license agreement on CIL001 and CIL003 with substantially improved royalty terms, reflecting the progress and value of Cilcare’s lead programs
- Sanofi to become a minority shareholder
- A further step in Cilcare’s strategy of building long-term partnerships with leading pharmaceutical companies engaged in hearing therapeutics, following its agreement with Shionogi and the close of its Series A
Updated agreement on improved terms
This update of the existing license agreement on CIL001 and CIL003, Cilcare’s most advanced programs, results in substantially improved royalty terms for Cilcare – in exchange for minority equity to Sanofi, providing long-term strategic value to advance these candidates in hearing loss.
This milestone represents a major step forward in Cilcare’s mission to develop transformative therapies addressing one of the largest and fastest-growing unmet medical needs worldwide. According to the World Health Organization, more than 1.6 billion people currently live with hearing loss, a number expected to rise to 2.5 billion by 2050.
Updated License Deal to unlock pipeline value
This update reflects the increasing maturity of Cilcare’s therapeutic portfolio and its confidence in the clinical and commercial potential of its assets.
“Re-imagining our licensing agreement with Sanofi – who will become a minority shareholder – provides strong validation of our scientific strategy and our vision of positioning hearing health as a critical pillar of global health. It is a meaningful signal, both for our programs and for the field as a whole” said Celia Belline, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Cilcare. “The agreement enhances our ability to accelerate the development of innovative therapies for millions of patients affected by hearing loss worldwide.”
Ms. Belline also highlighted that hearing loss is now recognized as the leading modifiable risk factor for dementia, further reinforcing the importance of addressing hearing disorders as a broader public health priority.
About Cilcare
Headquartered in Montpellier, France, with operations in Boston and Tokyo, Cilcare is a biotechnology company dedicated to developing transformative therapies for hearing disorders, including hearing loss and tinnitus. Within this rapidly evolving landscape, Cilcare has established a differentiated position through its unique perspective on hearing loss, viewing it not only as a sensory disorder, but also as a major risk factor and comorbidity for chronic inflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases.
The Company is advancing a diversified portfolio of therapeutic candidates targeting multiple biological mechanisms involved in hearing loss while applying a precision medicine approach designed to identify patient populations most likely to benefit from treatment.
By integrating proprietary multimodal auditory data, innovative biomarkers, and artificial intelligence-driven analytics, Cilcare enables patient stratification at the earliest stages of clinical development. This capability has the potential to significantly improve clinical success rates, optimize trial design, and reduce development risk.
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Media Contact
Marie Peytavy-Izard
Marketing & Communication Director
marie.peytavy@cilcare.com
