Elaaj Bio

Elaaj Bio is a rare-disease biotech focused on developing disease-modifying therapies for CDKL5 deficiency disorder (CDD), a severe neurodevelopmental condition. The company is wholly owned by the Loulou Foundation and appears to have been created specifically to advance CDD therapeutics rather than operate as a broad commercial pharmaceutical company. Its lead program, ELJ-101, is an adeno-associated virus gene therapy designed to restore CDKL5 expression in the brain. Publicly available materials indicate the program is in preclinical development, with manufacturing and IND-enabling activities underway and first-in-human study planning targeted around 2027. Elaaj Bio has collaborated with the University of Pennsylvania gene therapy group and continues related work with Gemma Bio leadership following Jim Wilson's move there.