SeaBeLife wins €2.9M grant to push liver drug toward human trials
What's the deal? French biotech SeaBeLifeDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has been awarded €2.9 million in government funding to advance SBL01, its drug candidate for acute liver damage. The grant comes through the i-Demo scheme of France 2030Dealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, the investment programme run by Bpifrance on behalf of the French government.
What's the endgame? Founded in 2019 by Morgane Rousselot and Claire Delehouze, SeaBeLife develops small molecules that target two regulated cell death mechanisms, necroptosis and ferroptosis, to protect organs hit by severe disease. Its pipeline pairs SBL01 for acute liver diseases with SBL03 for degenerative retinal conditions.
The money backs the €6.47 million SeaBeLIVER project, which aims to move SBL01 through manufacturing development, regulatory preclinical studies, and an application for clinical trial authorisation. The project runs from 2026 to 2028 and involves French contract research and manufacturing partners.
Why now? SBL01 has shown efficacy in several preclinical models and won orphan drug designation in the European Union in 2024 for preventing acute liver failure. The grant pushes the candidate toward a Phase I trial in healthy volunteers, followed by a Phase Ib trial in hospitalised patients.
What could go wrong? SeaBeLife says treatment options for acute liver injury and failure are limited — the opportunity, but also the risk. The funding headline alone does not establish clinical progress; the test is whether SBL01 reaches human data at all.
The signal: The round sits in the upper tier for size, but its significance is less about the figure than the stage. Compared with late-stage liver financing — French peer InventivaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → secured a €130 million package in June 2026 for Phase 3 work on a chronic MASH drug — this is early clinical capital aimed at a single, decisive question: can SeaBeLife get its candidate into the clinic?
Read more: vestbee.com
Image credit: SeaBeLife
