GENEVA, Dec. 3, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- EspeRare, a pioneering Geneva-based nonprofit biotech, announced today that it has been awarded a Grand Challenges grant from the Gates Foundation. This milestone strengthens EspeRare's mission to bring life-changing therapies to patients in under-resourced settings worldwide.

The Grand Challenges initiative, funded by the Gates Foundation, supports bold ideas that drive innovation to address pressing global health and development challenges. The grant will advance the development of a novel therapeutic approach for preeclampsia, a severe and potentially life-threatening pregnancy complication characterized by high blood pressure and organ dysfunction. Preeclampsia affects millions of women and babies every year and remains a leading cause of maternal and neonatal mortality, particularly in low-resource regions. Current treatment options are limited, with premature delivery often being the only option.

"We are deeply grateful for the Gates Foundation's support. It strengthens our commitment to maternal and fetal health and helps us move early-life innovations toward careful clinical evaluation for the families who need them most," said Caroline Kant, Co-founder & Executive Director of EspeRare. "It also underscores that a purpose-driven drug-development model like ours can help unlock responsible options for long-overlooked conditions, such as preeclampsia."

EspeRare's program aims to repurpose an oral small molecule originally developed for cardiovascular disorders. Building on its established safety profile in thousands of patients, the project seeks to accelerate clinical evaluation in pregnant women. The goal is to develop a safe, effective, and globally accessible therapy for preeclampsia, one that can improve survival and health outcomes for mothers and their unborn children, especially in high-burden settings. "By combining rigorous translational science with a focus on real-world feasibility, we aim to generate the first clear proof-of-concept for a prenatal therapy that protects both mother and baby," said Sébastien Mazzuri, Esperare's Research & Innovation Director. "This support gives us the momentum to design a scientifically sound, globally relevant development pathway to treat preeclampsia."

This support comes at a pivotal time for the organization, as global attention to maternal and prenatal health intensifies, and early-life therapies are moving from concept to clinical reality. As a pioneer in prenatal therapy development, Esperare is entering a new phase of expanded impact and focus on neglected maternal–fetal conditions. We are now strengthening science-to-care partnerships to reimagine prenatal, maternal, and child health, with the aim of translating scientific progress into real-world solutions that shape healthier futures from the start.

Contact details
Sebastien Mazzuri
Research and Innovation Director
mazzuri.sebastien@esperare.org

About the EspeRare foundation:

EspeRare has spent over a decade removing drug-development barriers that keep promising science from historically overlooked patients. Combining biotech agility and know-how with a patient-driven mission, EspeRare bridges the translational "valley of death" from early research to late-stage development. Through its hybrid nonprofit–biotech model, EspeRare collaborates closely with patient communities, clinicians, researchers, and regulators to advance new treatments efficiently and equitably. Based in Geneva, a global health capital at the crossroads of science, policy, and health diplomacy, EspeRare leverages its unique environment to catalyze partnerships with international impact.

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SOURCE EspeRare Foundation