Bio-Sourcing and Zerion Pharma receive 1.3m euros in funding for joint breast cancer project
Esme Needham | January 14, 2026 | News story | Research and Development | Bio-Sourcing, Oncology, Zerion Pharma, breast cancer
Bio-Sourcing and Zerion Pharma have announced that their collaboration to develop an oral form of the monoclonal antibody trastuzumab for breast cancer has received 1.3m euros in funding from EUREKA Eurostars.
The collaboration combines Bio-Sourcing’s BioMilk platform, designed to transport biologics through the gastrointestinal tract, with Zerion’s Dispersome technology. This technology has the capacity for manufacturing solid oral-dosage medicines. The two companies hope to develop an oral form of trastuzumab in order to tackle human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer.
If developed, an orally administered treatment for HER2-positive breast cancer could reduce burden on both patients and healthcare systems by reducing the need for treatment to take place at infusion centres. The existing global market for trastuzumab will be worth an estimated $4.1bn by 2030. An oral formulation could increase the size of this market and bring in major profits.
Over the course of three years, Bio-Sourcing and Zerion plan to produce an orally administered form of trastuzumab before moving to preclinical validation. They hope to move into initial phase 1 clinical studies around the year 2030. The budget for this collaborative work is 1.3m euros, the same amount as the funding from EUREKA Eurostars.
Bio-Sourcing is a biotechnology company specialising in affordable biotherapeutics. Bertrand Mérot, CEO of Bio Sourcing, said: “The development of this breakthrough in the systemic oral administration of monoclonal antibodies will not only greatly improve patient comfort but also increase access to these innovative treatments, thereby significantly expanding the biopharmaceutical markets.”
Zerion is a drug formulation company. Ole Wiborg, CEO of Zerion, said: “I believe that our joint project holds a significant promise for improving the treatment of breast cancer patients and will further open up a plethora of additional opportunities for switching injectables to orally administered drugs.”
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