Global demographic growth has accelerated the prevalence of neurodegenerative health issues, but Estonian biotech company GeneCode is stepping in to change that. Through pioneering oral medicines, they aim to target the root cause of neurodegeneration.
GeneCode joined the EIC Scaling Club in October 2024, as part of the New Biotech Platforms market group. Today, the company is translating decades of research into drug candidates capable of protecting and restoring the neurons targeted by neurodegenerative diseases.
GeneCode was founded in 1998 in Tallinn, Estonia, built on research into GDNF (glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor), a naturally occurring protein known to protect and support the dopamine-producing neurons that degenerate in Parkinson’s disease. Scientists had long known that GDNF could slow, or even halt, disease progression in principle.
The problem is the delivery. As a protein, GDNF cannot cross the blood–brain barrier, so it has to be injected directly into the brain, which is an invasive procedure that has produced inconsistent clinical results and, as a result, has never become a practical treatment option.
GeneCode’s founders set out to solve this problem at its root: rather than deliver the protein itself, could a much smaller molecule be designed to mimic GDNF’s biological effect and simply cross the barrier on its own?
In the brain, GDNF acts as a powerful shield for dopamine neurons. It locks onto specific receptors, triggering a survival signal that protects cells, boosts dopamine production, and strengthens brain connections. GeneCode’s breakthrough approach is to mimic this exact healing signal – but with a pill rather than a complex protein.
To achieve this, GeneCode mapped the precise, three-dimensional structure of the GDNF receptor to find the exact pockets where a medicine could attach. Using this blueprint, the team screened over 30,000 chemical compounds to find the perfect fit.
As a result, GeneCode was able to create designer molecules that are even more potent than nature's own protein. In laboratory models, using both human dopamine neurons and animal models of Parkinson’s, these molecules have successfully shielded brain cells from degeneration.
Plus, since GDNF-family receptors are also present in peripheral nerves, the kidney, the gut, and the eyes, GeneCode’s solution is not limited to treating Parkinson’s. The company is actively adapting its molecules to target Lou Gehrig's disease, inflammatory bowel disease and degenerative blindness.
Genecode’s scientific leadership comes from Prof. Dr. Mart Saarma, an internationally renowned neuroscientist at the University of Helsinki, who has directed the Institute of Biotechnology and Biocenter Finland. As one of Estonia’s most cited scientists, he holds 18 patent families that form the core of GeneCode’s intellectual property.
The other defining challenge for a deep-tech biotech is capital: drug development is slow and expensive long before any revenue arrives. GeneCode addressed this by pairing scientific expertise with a staged funding strategy. Their efforts were led by the CEO Paavo Pilv, who brings two decades of managerial experience in strategic planning for life-science, environmental and clean-tech ventures.
After years in the lab, GeneCode picked up momentum in the early 2020’s. In 2021, it signed a research agreement worth close to €3 million with Argobio, a Paris-based biotech start-up studio, to co-develop its Parkinson’s programme Kevad Bio.
Grants from Enterprise Estonia followed – €2 million in 2022, €1.6 million in 2024 to extend the platform into other areas, and a further €1.5 million in December 2024 to complete preclinical studies and prepare for first-in-human trials.
The company’s largest milestone to date came in July 2023, when the EIC Accelerator awarded GeneCode €16 million to advance the Kevad Bio project. It remains the largest funding ever received by an Estonian company under the EIC Accelerator programme.
Since then, GeneCode has been recognised as one of the TOP 10 Drug Discovery and Development Solutions Providers in Europe by Life Sciences Review (2023) and one of the 5 Best Biotech Companies to Watch by The Silicon Review (2024). With more than €25 million raised across grants and equity to date, GeneCode has proven to investors that its research is also commercially viable.
GeneCode joined the EIC Scaling Club in October 2024, opening up new opportunities for growth and networking.
“It offers a unique opportunity to build connections with top European entrepreneurs in our field and accelerate growth with the guidance of mentors,” said CEO Paavo Pilv.
The membership also strengthens the company’s market position and improves access to investment. At the time, Prof. Dr. Mart Saarma emphasized GeneCode’s ambition:
“The treatments available today alleviate the symptoms of diseases, but they do not cure or address the root causes. Our goal is to find a cure for these diseases.”
As GeneCode advances toward its first clinical trials, the EIC’s network of investors, corporate partners and mentors can help the company reach its ultimate goal: bring biotech out of the lab and into patients’ hands.
The EIC Scaling Club is a curated community where 120+ European deep tech scale-ups with the potential to build world-class businesses and solve major global challenges come together with investors, corporate innovators and other industry stakeholders to spur growth.
The top 120+ European deep tech companies will be carefully selected from a pool of high-growth scale-ups that have benefitted from EIC financial schemes, other European and national innovation programmes, and beyond.
The EIC Scaling Club is an EIC-funded initiative run in partnership by Tech Tour, Bpifrance (EuroQuity), Hello Tomorrow, Tech.eu (Webrazzi), EurA and IESE Business School.
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