The science
Ancient viruses, modern disease
GeNeuro was founded on a radical but evidence-backed hypothesis: that a class of ancient viral sequences permanently embedded in the human genome — human endogenous retroviruses — are a root cause of some of the most devastating neurological and autoimmune diseases of our time, including Multiple Sclerosis, ALS, Psychosis, Type 1 Diabetes, and Long Covid Brain Fog.
What are HERVs?
Over millions of years, retroviruses infected our ancestors and integrated their genetic material into the germline — passing their sequences to every subsequent generation. Today, these sequences, known as human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs), make up approximately 8% of the human genome.
Under normal circumstances, these sequences remain silenced. But environmental triggers — viral infections, inflammation, immune dysregulation — can reactivate them. When reactivated, HERV genes produce proteins that the immune system has never learned to tolerate, triggering a cascade of neuroinflammation and tissue damage.
How HERV reactivation drives disease
The pathogenic mechanism
Trigger event
An environmental trigger — viral infection (e.g. SARS-CoV-2, EBV, HSV), inflammation, or immune stress — activates dormant HERV sequences. This mechanism is now implicated in Long Covid, where SARS-CoV-2 infection drives persistent HERV-W reactivation and neuroinflammation.
HERV protein expression
Reactivated HERV genes produce envelope proteins (e.g. HERV-W Env, HERV-K) that are foreign to the immune system.
Neuroinflammation
HERV proteins activate Toll-like receptors and microglia, triggering a sustained neuroinflammatory response.
Tissue damage
Chronic inflammation leads to demyelination, neurodegeneration, and progressive loss of function — the hallmarks of MS, ALS, and related diseases.
Our approach
The GeNeuro platform
GeNeuro has developed a portfolio of monoclonal antibodies that specifically neutralize pathogenic HERV proteins. By targeting the upstream driver of neuroinflammation — rather than its downstream effects — our approach aims to modify disease course rather than merely manage symptoms.
View clinical pipeline→Upstream targeting
Neutralizing HERV proteins at the source, before the inflammatory cascade begins.
Precision antibodies
Monoclonal antibodies engineered for high specificity against HERV envelope proteins.
Broad applicability
The same HERV-W pathway implicated in MS is also active in psychosis, Type 1 Diabetes, Long Covid Brain Fog, and other immune-mediated diseases.
Clinical & institutional validation
Phase I and Phase II data demonstrate safety, tolerability, and efficacy signals. The ALS program was developed under a CRADA with the NIH/NINDS, with GNK-301 shown to prevent motor neuron degeneration in preclinical models.
Selected publications
Annals of Neurology · 2022
Human Endogenous Retrovirus K Envelope in Spinal Fluid of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Is Toxic
Steiner JP, Bachani M, Malik N, … Perron H, Nath A
PubMed 35801347 ↗iScience · 2023
SARS-CoV-2 awakens ancient retroviral genes and the expression of proinflammatory HERV-W envelope protein in COVID-19 patients
Charvet B, Brunel J, Pierquin J, … Perron H, Horvat B
PubMed 37091988 ↗Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2023
Transgenic expression of the HERV-W envelope protein leads to polarized glial cell populations and a neurodegenerative environment
Gruchot J, Lewen I, Dietrich M, … Perron H, Küry P
PubMed 37695891 ↗Translational Psychiatry · 2023
Patients with psychosis spectrum disorders hospitalized during the COVID-19 pandemic unravel overlooked SARS-CoV-2 past infection clustering with HERV-W ENV expression and chronic inflammation
Tamouza R, Meyer U, Lucas A, … Perron H, Leboyer M
PubMed 37524719 ↗Frontiers in Immunology · 2022
HERV-W ENV antigenemia and correlation of increased anti-SARS-CoV-2 immunoglobulin levels with post-COVID-19 symptoms
Giménez-Orenga K, Pierquin J, Brunel J, Charvet B, … Perron H, Oltra E
PubMed 36389746 ↗Molecular Psychiatry · 2025
Recapitulation and reversal of neuropsychiatric phenotypes in a mouse model of human endogenous retrovirus type W expression
Herrero F, Heeb C, Meier M, … Perron H, Küry P, Meyer U
PubMed 40102613 ↗Microbes and Infection · 2025
HERV-W ENV transcription in B cells predicting symptomatic COVID-19 and risk for long COVID can express a full-length protein despite stop codon in mRNA from chromosome X via a ribosome readthrough
Brunel J, Paganini J, Galloux M, Charvet B, Perron H
PubMed 39419470 ↗