About

Hydra Therapeutics is an Athens-based veterinary biotech company developing cell-free regenerative therapies for animals. Veterinary medicine is still stuck in palliation: roughly 100 million dogs and 15 million horses worldwide live with osteoarthritis, and current options — NSAIDs, corticosteroids, PRP — manage symptoms without repairing the underlying tissue. The problem is sharpest for Military Working Dogs, where neuromusculoskeletal disease causes roughly 50% of early service retirements, and replacing a trained dog costs $65,000–85,000+ and about eight months of operational capacity. While cell and gene therapies have transformed human medicine, animals still lack safe, scalable, off-the-shelf regenerative biologics. Hydra fills that gap with MSC-derived extracellular vesicle (EV) therapies built on our proprietary HydraEXO manufacturing platform, with a pipeline spanning canine, equine and feline indications and dual-use potential for defence veterinary medicine. We are targeting premium veterinary markets across the EU, US and MENA — a welfare imperative and a significant commercial opportunity at once.

Solution & Product

Hydra Therapeutics develops MSC-EV (Mesenchymal Stem Cell-derived Extracellular Vesicle) therapies — cell-free, nano-sized biological particles that deliver regenerative signals to damaged tissue, modulating inflammation and activating endogenous repair mechanisms. Unlike live-cell therapies, MSC-EVs offer enhanced safety (lower immunogenicity), field-ready stability (no complex cold chain), and scalable GMP manufacturing. Our pipeline includes three species-specific products: Canivex (canine osteoarthritis & skin wounds), Equivex (equine osteoarthritis & tendon injuries), and Felivex (feline chronic kidney disease). Canivex is also positioned as a dual-use biodefence therapy for Military Working Dogs, aligned with NATO AMedP-8.4 doctrine and regulated under EU Regulation 2019/6. All products are manufactured on our proprietary HydraEXO hollow-fiber bioreactor platform, enabling cost-efficient, standardized, batch-consistent EV production scalable from R&D to commercial volumes.

Innovation & Scalability

Hydra is one of the few EU companies building a dedicated EV therapeutic pipeline for veterinary medicine, with scalability built in from day one. Our edge rests on three pillars. First, the proprietary HydraEXO platform: an end-to-end hollow-fiber bioreactor system for serum-free, standardized, batch-consistent EV production, overcoming the reproducibility and cost limits of flask-based methods, and supporting production from early R&D batches to commercial volumes without process redesign. Second, a platform-based pipeline: Canivex, Equivex and Felivex share the same manufacturing infrastructure and regulatory know-how, lowering technological risk, speeding time-to-market, and multiplying revenue without proportional cost as new products launch. Third, dual-use translational positioning: Canivex is designed to generate real-world evidence in Military Working Dogs that de-risks and accelerates regulatory pathways for human warfighter and civilian applications, a One Health value chain unavailable to single-market competitors. Our roadmap moves from technology maturation through pilot clinical applications and Proof of Value to commercial preparation and licensing. Key barriers — EU Regulation 2019/6 timelines, manufacturing scale-up investment, and market education — are being mitigated through early ΕΟΦ engagement, the current funding round, and KOL veterinary partnerships that accelerate clinical adoption.

Traction & achievements

Hydra Therapeutics has established three foundational milestones since inception. A comprehensive regulatory strategy was developed in collaboration with PKNM Solutions Sàrl (Switzerland), mapping the full EU licensing pathway for Canivex under Regulation 2019/6 with ΕΟΦ and ΥΠΑΑΤ as competent authorities. The company successfully completed the EGG (Enter Grow Go) Pre-acceleration program, validating the business model and strengthening the commercial foundation. Additionally, Hydra Therapeutics has been enrolled in the ΕΛΚΑΚ ecosystem, actively pursuing collaboration for the K9 Health–Biodefence project — positioning Canivex as a dual-use regenerative therapy for Military Working Dogs within the Greek defence innovation framework. Finally, Hydra's founder also won first place in Drug Discovery & Development at LifeHack Athens 2026 (Panathenēa) with an AI tool for siRNA optimization, earning lab access at Athens LifeTech Park for a six-month period.

Team & Why Us

Hydra pairs hands-on manufacturing with clinical veterinary leadership and global CGT expertise, giving the team a high degree of complementarity across scientific specialization, clinical experience and business strategy — the right conditions to turn scientific innovation into commercially viable biotech products. Marjon Gjika (Founder & CEO) holds an MSc in Cell & Gene Therapies, is completing an MBA, and brings hands-on GMP manufacturing, EV/MSC process development and CAR-T bioprocess optimization experience, plus four years of R&D at a biotech startup with consortium-level exosome therapy work. Dr. Vassiliki Stathopoulou (Chief Veterinary Officer), DVM, cPhD, brings extensive clinical veterinary experience and international scientific collaboration, having built MEAVC into a major Middle East veterinary congress and co-developed the DrinkMore precision pet care platform; she leads clinical protocol design. Scientific advisors Greg Roumeliotis (biobanking, preclinical cell therapy, multiomics/NGS, Orgenesis platform) and Prof. Miomir Knezevic (global CGT pioneer, ATMP development, biomedical engineering, oncology manufacturing, GCC experience) complete the team. Growth strategy: pilot clinical applications with KOL veterinary clinics to generate Proof of Value, then scale through specialist distributors, veterinary congresses and defence veterinary procurement across NATO states, reinvesting early revenue into manufacturing scale-up and platform licensing.

Funding Needs

Hydra is raising €270,000 in a seed round to advance IP protection, scale our EV manufacturing platform, initiate first clinical applications, and expand operational and team capacity. Use of proceeds: €90,000 (33%) for manufacturing of therapies and first clinical applications; €80,000 (30%) for salaries and compensation to expand the core team; €45,000 (17%) for IP and legal fees; €20,000 (7%) for operational expenses; €20,000 (7%) for regulatory and compliance costs; and €15,000 (6%) for strategic networking and partnership expenses. This round takes Hydra from technology maturation into pilot clinical applications and Proof of Value, while securing the IP position needed to support a future institutional raise. We are looking for investors with life-science, animal health or defence-innovation networks who can also open doors to clinics, distributors and defence veterinary procurement bodies.