Key Investor Signals
Repeat biotech founder behind two major Series A rounds
Mette Rosenkilde co-founded Antag Therapeutics and Synklino. Antag raised an €80M Series A in 2024 and Synklino raised €29.8M in 2022; she also co-founded Bainan Biotech and Inagen.
Joined BII Venture Lab with €500K convertible funding
Cerentry entered BioInnovation Institute’s 12-month Venture Lab in March 2026. The program provides a €500K convertible loan plus access to labs, offices and business support.
Co-founders named on a 2022 brain-delivery patent
A 2022 patent from the underlying academic work lists co-founders Katrine Qvortrup and Mette Rosenkilde as inventors on drug conjugates designed for receptor-targeted delivery at the choroid plexus.
Other Positive Signals
- Awarded DKK 1M in Innobooster funding from Innovation Fund Denmark to advance its brain-shuttle technology.
- Secured a two-year Industrial Postdoctoral Fellowship from Innovation Fund Denmark for brain-shuttle development.
- Developed with University of Copenhagen and DTU support, including KU Lighthouse and DTU Skylab.
Team
Maria Deslauriers
CEO and Co-founder
- Experienced business developer with both pharmaceutical-industry and academic experience, with a core focus on drug development.
- Earned a 2017 PhD from DTU on translating enzyme-based processes into practical industrial applications.
- Her published doctoral research included pharmaceutical synthesis case studies using biocatalysis.
Katrine Qvortrup
CSO and Co-founder
- Appointed Professor at DTU Chemistry in August 2025, with research focused on molecular design for brain-specific drug delivery.
- Works on brain-specific drug delivery, including de novo binder design intended to help biologics cross brain barriers.
- Named inventor on WO2022223837, a published patent covering peptide-drug conjugates and receptor-targeted delivery at the choroid plexus.
Mette Rosenkilde
Co-founder
- Previously co-founded Inagen, Antag Therapeutics, Synklino and Bainan Biotech, giving her repeat biotech company-building experience.
- Professor of Molecular and Translational Pharmacology at the University of Copenhagen and head of its Molecular Pharmacology Laboratory.
- Named inventor on WO2022223837, the brain-delivery patent underlying receptor-targeted drug conjugates at the choroid plexus.
Product
Cerentry Bio is developing a brain shuttle that carries therapeutic cargo into the central nervous system after systemic dosing. It targets receptor-mediated transport across the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier at the choroid plexus, releasing drug conjugates into the brain’s ventricles.
Alternative route into the brain
Most brain-delivery programs target the blood-brain barrier. Cerentry instead uses the choroid plexus, where the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier separates circulating blood from cerebrospinal fluid and offers a different entry route into the CNS.
Receptor-guided barrier transport
The shuttle is designed to bind a receptor at the choroid plexus and transport attached therapeutic cargo across the barrier into cerebrospinal fluid. Its 2022 patent describes receptor-targeted drug conjugates for delivery at the choroid plexus.
Designed for systemic dosing
The platform is designed for therapeutics administered through the bloodstream, aiming to reach the CNS without direct injection into the brain or cerebrospinal fluid. Cerentry positions the approach for systemically dosed therapeutic cargo.
Market Overview
Neurological conditions affect more than 40% of the global population, or over 3 billion people, according to WHO's 2025 global neurology report. For biologic medicines, brain access remains a major bottleneck: recent reviews estimate that only about 0.1% of an intravenously administered monoclonal-antibody dose reaches the brain.
Commercial demand for CNS medicines is already established. SPINRAZA, an intrathecally administered therapy for spinal muscular atrophy, generated $1.55B in global sales in 2025. The adjacent drug-delivery-across-the-BBB market is estimated at $2.1B in 2026 and projected to reach $2.6B by 2030.
WHO says neurological conditions affect more than 40% of people worldwide, or over 3 billion people.
About 0.1% of an intravenously administered monoclonal-antibody dose reaches the brain.
SPINRAZA, administered intrathecally for spinal muscular atrophy, generated $1.55B in global sales in 2025.
Projected global market growth from $2.1B in 2026 to $2.6B by 2030.
Comparable Outcomes
Aliada Therapeutics
Aliada developed the MODEL platform to transport biologic cargo across the blood-brain barrier into the CNS. Its Phase 1 lead asset used transferrin-receptor targeting to carry an Alzheimer’s antibody across the barrier. AbbVie completed its acquisition of Aliada in December 2024 after paying approximately $1.4B in cash.
AveXis
AveXis developed AVXS-101, a one-time gene therapy for spinal muscular atrophy delivered intravenously to reach motor neurons in the brain and spinal cord, establishing a precedent for systemic CNS delivery. Novartis completed its acquisition of AveXis in May 2018 for $218 per share in cash, paying a total of $8.7B.
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Sources
This profile was built from public company materials, ecosystem sources, market references, and professional profiles.