The company plans a clinical trial for its CIL001 tinnitus drug candidate at Massachusetts General Hospital and will triple preclinical capacity through its partnership with CBSET.
Cilcare, a French-US biopharmaceutical company, announced a series of investments in the United States, including plans for a clinical trial of its tinnitus drug candidate, CIL001, and a significant expansion of its preclinical research capabilities. The announcements were made at the SelectUSA Investment Summit 2026.
The company is preparing a clinical trial for CIL001 to be conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston. CIL001 is an investigational drug candidate targeting cochlear synaptopathy, a mechanism involved in tinnitus and difficulty understanding speech in noisy environments. The trial will evaluate the drug candidate in patients with chronic tinnitus. According to Cilcare, tinnitus affects an estimated 50 million Americans, and there is currently no approved pharmacological treatment.
“Massachusetts continues to be a global destination for companies looking to invest, innovate and grow,” says Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey, in a release. “Cilcare’s expansion and this new clinical trial at Massachusetts General Hospital reflect the strength of our life sciences ecosystem and the partnerships that make it possible to move breakthrough ideas into real treatments.”
In addition to the clinical trial, Cilcare is scaling up its hearing research operations through its partnership with CBSET, a preclinical biomedical research organization. An investment from Arlington Capital Partners will allow CBSET to triple its laboratory capacity. Cilcare and CBSET have collaborated since 2017 on drug candidates and gene therapy approaches in hearing science.
“Our partnership with CBSET is far more than a contractual relationship—it is a shared translational engine that has driven some of our most important discoveries,” says Celia Belline, CEO of Cilcare, in a release. “Arlington Capital Partners’ growth investment in CBSET is a powerful signal of confidence in our joint roadmap and in the future of hearing therapeutics.”
Leveraging this expanded infrastructure and their operational experience, Cilcare and CBSET also plan to launch a US gateway for other international biotechs. The initiative aims to provide foreign companies with access to preclinical platforms, regulatory guidance, and connections with American academic centers.
