Meletios and the EIC Accelerator: An Antiviral Never Tested
Meletios Therapeutics developed antiviral drugs that target the host cell rather than the virus. Its EIC project, FLUIDITY, was built on an oral small molecule that alters the fluidity of cell membranes to stop viruses getting in and moving inside cells, which it said could work against many viruses and calm inflammation, according to CORDIS. The company also held an exclusive licence from the Institut Pasteur for a platform based on defective viral genomes.
The European Innovation Council granted €2,500,000 towards a €4.6 million project from January 2023 to December 2024 meant to produce the drug's first human efficacy data. The final report says "the API batch for the clinical trial is available, the clinical trial design is defined", and then: "due to lack of funding, the project is discontinued." The trial was not run. On 17 April 2025 a court opened judicial liquidation of Meletios Therapeutics, setting the date its payments stopped at 28 March 2025, according to the official gazette BODACC.
Company file
- Legal entity
- Meletios Therapeutics, SIREN 883 003 691, Paris
- Started trading
- April 2020
- CEO
- Catherine Martre (2023)
- Technology
- Host-targeting antiviral small molecule; Pasteur-licensed viral genome platform
- EIC project
- FLUIDITY, 1 Jan 2023 to 31 Dec 2024, discontinued
- Insolvency
- Judicial liquidation opened 17 April 2025
What Happened to Meletios
The court appointed a liquidator on 17 April 2025. Meletios had last filed accounts publicly in 2022. In July 2023 it had received a €1.2 million grant from Bpifrance's Deeptech programme for its viral genome platform, which it licensed from the Institut Pasteur for Zika, chikungunya and, later, other virus families. No buyer for its programmes has been announced.
The record
From EIC grant to liquidation in 28 months
Meletios's EIC project was to take an oral antiviral into its first clinical trial. It was discontinued for lack of funding, and a Paris court opened judicial liquidation in April 2025.
- Apr 2020Company startedAntiviral drugs targeting host mechanisms
- Jun 2022EIC Accelerator cut-offFLUIDITY: broad-spectrum oral antiviralblended finance
- Jan 2023EIC project startsTwo years€2.50M grant
- Jul 2023Bpifrance Deeptech grantFor its Pasteur-licensed viral genome platform€1.2M
- Dec 2024EIC project ends"Discontinued" for lack of funding; trial not run
- 28 Mar 2025Payments stopDate of cessation of payments set by the court
- 17 Apr 2025Judicial liquidationOpened by the court; liquidator appointed
CORDIS, Manufacturing Chemist and BODACC.
"Due to lack of funding, the project is discontinued."
Meletios Therapeutics, final report to the EICThe Technology: Making Cells Harder to Enter
FLUIDITY's compound was meant to change a property of the host cell, membrane fluidity, that many viruses rely on to enter and traffic inside cells, which would give broad-spectrum activity and anti-inflammatory effects. The report does not publish preclinical efficacy data.
The EIC project
Project milestones reached
1 means reached, 0 means not reached, according to the final report.
CORDIS project 190144923, final report.
What the EIC Project Promised, and What CORDIS Shows
The EIC project
The EU grant covered 55% of a €4.6M project
FLUIDITY ran from January 2023 to December 2024 and was discontinued. CORDIS still lists it as signed.
CORDIS project 190144923. Values in € millions.
The project promised a first clinical trial with human efficacy data. Meletios produced the drug batch, designed the trial and began talking to potential partners. It could not raise the rest of the money needed, so the trial was never run. CORDIS still lists the project as signed rather than terminated.
- Clinical-grade drug batchMadePer final report.
- Trial designDefinedPer final report.
- Clinical trialNot runProject discontinued.
- A viable companyFailedLiquidation, April 2025.
The Money
The EIC grant covered 55% of the project; Meletios had to find the rest. Its award was blended finance, but no EIC Fund investment was announced. How much of the grant was paid before the project stopped, and what creditors will recover, are not public.
The money
Public grants announced for Meletios
In € millions. How much of the EIC grant was paid before the project was discontinued is not public.
CORDIS; Manufacturing Chemist, July 2023.
What Cannot Be Checked
Questions for the EIC
How much of the €2.5 million was paid, whether any EIC equity was offered, what the compound and platform licence were sold for, and why no investor stepped in are not public.
Why Europe Should Care
The EIC backed a French company working on broad-spectrum antivirals. The grant paid for preparation, not for the trial itself, and its final report says the project was discontinued for lack of funding; the company then went into liquidation.
What the project promised
First human efficacy data for an oral, broad-spectrum antiviral.
What the record shows
A drug batch and a trial design, then a discontinued project and judicial liquidation in April 2025.
The Verdict
Ready for a trial it could not pay for
Meletios got as far as manufacturing the drug and designing the trial. Its own report to the EIC says the project stopped for lack of funding, and the company was liquidated months later.
Meletios's liquidator and the EIC have not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on public records and published statements, linked throughout.
Industry
HealthBiopharmaceuticals
- Focus
- Small molecules
- Technologies
- Medicinal chemistry
- Keywords
- Antivirals
- Host-targeting drugs
- Broad-spectrum antivirals
- Inflammation