Press Release
Eukarÿs Wins 2025 BioTools Innovator Grand Prize and Joins BARDA’s Elite VANGUARD Program
• Awarded the 2025 BioTools Innovator Grand Prize, receiving $250,000
• Chosen by BARDA as a critical enabling technology for health emergency response
Evry, December 11th 2025 - Eukarÿs, a Paris-based biotechnology company developing the world’s first multifunctional RNA polymerase to boost biomanufacturing yields in mammalian cells, today announced two major milestones highlighting both the disruption of its technology, and its strong commercial traction:
1. Eukarÿs is the Winner of the 2025 BioTools Innovator Grand Prize, receiving a $250,000 award. Eukarÿs was in competition with 440 companies from 43 countries. The final took place at the Capstone event in San Diego, where Eukarÿs was the only non-US company. The selection has been made by vote by 80+ industry-leaders of the Life-Sciences Tools industry.
and
2. Eukarÿs has been selected by the U.S. government agency BARDA as one of the ten startups admitted into VANGUARD, its accelerator dedicated to enabling technologies for national health preparedness.
These distinctions, both awarded in the United States, the world’s largest and most competitive biotech and bioproduction ecosystem, represent a remarkable recognition of French deeptech innovation on the global stage.
A Unique Double Recognition in the U.S.
Among the 31 companies selected worldwide for the BioTools Innovator Accelerator, only ten were chosen by BARDA (Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority) to join its VANGUARD program. Of these ten companies, nine are American, and only one is not: Eukarÿs.
In addition to having won the Biotools Innovator 2025 Grand Prize, Eukarÿs was the only company to have been simultaneously:
- a BioTools Innovator Grand Prize finalist, and
- selected into the BARDA VANGUARD program.
A unique “double hit” demonstrating the strategic importance of the company’s technology both for industrial and societal needs.
BARDA is an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), responsible for U.S. national preparedness against pandemics, biological threats, and large-scale health emergencies. BARDA selected Eukarÿs based on the criticality of its technology for crisis management:
- Faster response in emergencies: significantly accelerating vaccine and therapeutic production.
- Increased manufacturing capacity: producing more with existing facilities, without building new plants.
- Lower production costs: e.g., reducing batch size requirements and decreasing costs by $3.5M+ for a 2,000L batch.
- Reduced drug shortages: enabling rapid supply acceleration at constant manufacturing footprint.
- Universal platform applicability: antibodies, proteins, ADCs, VLPs, viral vectors, vaccines, and more.
This selection underscores the universal, cross-modal relevance of Eukarÿs’ RNA polymerase to the future of bioproduction.
A Transformational Year for Eukarÿs
“One year ago, Eukarÿs had a tremendous technology, but we did not have a team; now we have one. We did not have a product; now we have one. We did not have customers; now we have many, in nine countries on three continents,” said Guillaume Prunier, CEO of Eukarÿs. “We are extremely proud to see our technology recognized at this level in the United States - both by BioTools Innovator and by BARDA. This year has been transformational, and these distinctions validate the global relevance of our mission: enabling faster, more scalable, and more affordable bioproduction.”
Over the past 12 months, Eukarÿs has achieved major milestones:
- Product: launch of the first multifunctional RNA polymerase for mammalian bioproduction.
- Team: recruitment of a seasoned CBO, formerly Managing Director of Thermo Fisher Scientific France.
- Commercial traction: a pipeline of 70 companies, with 15 active contracts across three continents and nine countries.
- Board & Strategic Advisors: reinforcement with leading global figures in bioproduction and biomanufacturing:
- Eric Drapé – Board Member of Lonza (world’s largest CDMO), former EVP Global Operations of TEVA.
- Nicole Faust – former CEO of CEVEC (acquired by Danaher/Cytiva), one of Europe’s major bioproduction success stories.
- Bryan Poltilove – former VP & GM at Thermo Fisher Scientific.
“These achievements show what a small, extremely capital-efficient team can deliver when the technology is disruptive and the execution is sharp,” added Prunier. “We move fast, we stay focused, and we deliver.”
About the BioTools Innovator Grand Prize
Eukarÿs was awarded the Grand Prize after live pitches from the five finalists - Diagnostic Biochips, Likarda, Novilytic, and VisiCELL Medical - evaluated in real time by an audience of industry leaders at the Capstone Event in San Diego.
The Grand Prize recognizes breakthrough life science tools with the potential to deeply accelerate research, bioproduction, diagnostics, and therapeutic development.
“This year’s Grand Prize winner, Eukarÿs, has built a strong foundation for its technology and is now on a rapid growth trajectory,” said Kathryn Zavala, PhD, Managing Director of BioTools Innovator. “We’re proud to support them as they scale their impact on global health.”
Next Steps: Scaling Commercialization and Expanding the Platform
Following these dual recognitions and strong commercial traction, Eukarÿs is preparing the next phase of its development, including:
- a fundraising round to accelerate global commercialization, and
- the expansion of a full product and service platform built around its RNA polymerase technology.
About Eukarÿs
Eukarÿs is a French biotechnology company pioneering the world’s first multifunctional RNA polymerase designed to increase biomanufacturing yields in mammalian cells. Its technology enhances the industrial expression of recombinant proteins, vaccines, viral vectors, and complex biomedicines - enabling faster development timelines, reduced production costs, and improved manufacturability of difficult-to-express molecules.
Eukarÿs partners with biopharma companies, CDMOs, and technology providers across Europe, North America, and Asia.
For more information, visit www.eukarys.com
Media Contact :
Marie Puvieux, ATCG Partners
eukarys@atcg-partners.com
+33 (0)6 10 54 36 72
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