858 Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company in San Diego building small-molecule cancer drugs aimed at novel targets in DNA damage response, RNA modulation, and innate immunity. Its lead candidate, the oral PARG inhibitor ETX-19477, is in a first-in-human Phase 1/2 trial for advanced solid tumors and has won FDA Fast Track designation for BRCA-mutated, platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. Founded in 2019 by a serial team of San Diego drug developers, the company has raised $110 million across Series A and B financings.
Abcuro is a clinical-stage biotechnology company in Newton, Massachusetts developing first-in-class immunotherapies that selectively deplete highly cytotoxic T cells implicated in autoimmune tissue damage and certain cancers. Its lead program, ulviprubart (ABC008), is a monoclonal antibody targeting the KLRG1 receptor, advanced primarily for inclusion body myositis (IBM) - a progressive muscle-wasting disease with no approved treatments - alongside pipeline work in T-cell large granular lymphocytic leukemia and T/NK-cell lymphomas.
Arda Therapeutics is a San Carlos, California biotech building precision biologics that eliminate the specific cells driving chronic disease rather than tinkering with the proteins those cells produce. Using a single-cell data discovery engine, Arda maps disease-specific cell states, pinpoints their surface markers, and designs targeted therapies that deplete only the harmful cells while sparing healthy tissue. Founded in 2021 by former Calico scientist Adam Freund, the company is applying lessons from oncology to fibrosis, autoimmune, and metabolic disease, backed by a $43M Series A led by a16z Bio + Health.
AvenCell Therapeutics is a clinical-stage cell therapy company building switchable, universal CAR-T treatments that can be turned 'off' and 'on' even after they are inside a patient. By pairing this controllable switch with a CRISPR-engineered, off-the-shelf allogeneic platform, AvenCell aims to widen the narrow safety window of conventional CAR-T while cutting the cost and wait time of manufacturing, targeting hard-to-treat blood cancers like AML, B-cell malignancies and, increasingly, autoimmune disease.
Bexorg is a New Haven techbio company that perfuses donated, postmortem human and pig brains with custom-made artificial blood to restore their molecular and metabolic activity, turning whole organs into living-tissue testbeds for drug discovery. Its BrainEx wet-lab platform and XO Digital AI engine generate petabyte-scale human brain datasets that let pharmaceutical partners test therapies in human-relevant tissue before costly clinical trials - a direct response to the roughly 95% failure rate of central-nervous-system drugs.
Bonum Therapeutics is a Seattle biotechnology company building conditionally active biologics - drugs that switch on only where they are needed and switch off everywhere else. Spun out of Good Therapeutics after Roche's $250M acquisition in 2022, Bonum kept the platform blueprint and its founding team, then raised a $93M Series A to extend the approach. Its patented dual-binding antibody (DBA) technology uses a single domain that binds either an effector cytokine or a marker protein, but only one at a time, creating fully reversible medicines aimed at cancer, autoimmunity, metabolic disease and pain.
Brenig Therapeutics is a neurology-focused biotechnology company building disease-modifying small-molecule therapies for Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. Founded in 2021 and backed by $65 million in Series A funding led by NEA, Brenig pairs AI- and machine-learning-driven discovery with structure-based design to engineer brain-penetrant molecules that hit the central nervous system while sparing the rest of the body. Its lead candidate, BT-267, is a selective LRRK2 inhibitor now in human trials, followed by BT-409, a brain-selective NLRP3 inflammasome inhibitor targeting neuroinflammation.
CellFE is an Alameda, California biotechnology company building microfluidics-based, non-viral cell-engineering instruments and consumables. Its Ryva mechanoporation platform squeezes cells through microfluidic channels to transiently open their membranes and deliver gene-editing payloads (mRNA, CRISPR-RNP, DNA vectors) in under 10 milliseconds, aiming to preserve cell health and viability where viral vectors and electroporation fall short. The goal is to make lifesaving cell therapies such as CAR-T faster, cheaper, and more scalable to manufacture.
Circle Pharma is a South San Francisco biotechnology company building intrinsically cell-permeable, orally available macrocycle therapeutics to hit cancer targets long considered undruggable. Spun out of UCSF and UC Santa Cruz in 2012, it pairs structure-based design, AI/ML, physics-based simulation, and advanced synthetic chemistry in its proprietary MXMO platform. Its lead program, CID-078, is a first-in-class oral cyclin A/B RxL inhibitor now in a Phase 1 trial for advanced solid tumors. The company has raised more than $200 million in total funding, including a $90 million Series D in 2024.
Circular Genomics is a San Diego biotechnology company turning circular RNA (circRNA) into a new class of blood-based biomarkers for brain health. Spun out of the University of New Mexico in 2021, the company uses brain-enriched circRNAs that cross the blood-brain barrier and stay stable in whole blood to detect and predict neurological and psychiatric conditions, from Alzheimer's disease to major depressive disorder. Its goal is to replace guesswork in brain care with measurable, actionable data, starting with early Alzheimer's detection and SSRI treatment-response testing for depression.
Clasp Therapeutics is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company building off-the-shelf, antibody-like T cell engagers that target cancer driver mutations presented on tumor cells via HLA. Spun out of Johns Hopkins and co-founded by cancer-genetics pioneer Bert Vogelstein and immunotherapy leader Drew Pardoll, Clasp uses its proprietary pHLAre platform to redirect a patient's own T cells to kill tumors with what the company calls absolute specificity - hitting mutant peptides found only on cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue. The company launched publicly in March 2024 with a $150 million Series A and dosed its first patient in April 2025.
ClearNote Health is a San Diego molecular diagnostics company building non-invasive, blood-based tests that detect high-mortality cancers early, when treatment works best. Spun out of Stephen Quake's Stanford lab in 2016 (originally as Bluestar Genomics), it pairs a proprietary 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) epigenomic platform with cell-free DNA analysis and machine learning. Its flagship Avantect Pancreatic Cancer Test targets high-risk patients - including adults 50+ newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes - and the company is extending the approach to ovarian and multi-cancer detection.
Concerto Biosciences is a Cambridge, Massachusetts microbiome company that turns microbial ecology into health products. Its patented kChip platform screens millions of microbial interactions in nanoliter droplets to discover 'ensembles' - small, defined groups of microbes that work together to shepherd a damaged microbial community back to health. The company's lead program, ENS-002, is a topical live biotherapeutic for atopic dermatitis that suppresses Staphylococcus aureus without nuking the skin's helpful microbes. Founded in 2020 by scientists out of MIT and the Broad Institute, Concerto pairs ultra-high-throughput biology with AI to make microbial communities predictable and engineerable.
Curi Bio is a Seattle biotechnology company building human-relevant preclinical platforms for drug discovery. By combining human iPSC-derived cells, 3D engineered tissues, lab instruments, and AI/ML data analysis, it gives biopharma teams functional human data earlier in development - aiming to bridge the gap between animal/2D-cell models and the clinic across cardiac, skeletal muscle, metabolic, and neuromuscular diseases.
Cutting Edge Information (CEI) is a Research Triangle Park-based market research and data analytics firm that builds the world's largest specialty-specific database of Fair Market Value (FMV) rates for engaging healthcare professionals. Pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical device companies use CEI's FMV data, HCP Fee Calculator, and Compliance Insights to set rates that are both competitive enough to attract top clinical talent and defensible enough to satisfy regulators. With 230,000+ rate observations across 126 countries and 280+ specialties, CEI serves more than 300 clients, including over 70% of the top 25 pharmaceutical companies and 8 of the top 10.
Edgewood Oncology is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing BTX-A51, a first-in-class oral small-molecule multi-kinase inhibitor that co-targets casein kinase 1 alpha (CK1α) and cyclin-dependent kinases 7 and 9 (CDK7/CDK9) - three master regulators of cancer cell survival and transcription. Founded by veteran biotech executive David N. Cook and emerging from stealth in March 2024 with $20M in Series A financing from Alta Partners, the company is advancing BTX-A51 through Phase 2a trials in relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia and genetically-defined (GATA3-mutant) ER+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer.
eGenesis is a Cambridge, Massachusetts clinical-stage biotechnology company using multiplex CRISPR gene editing to engineer pig organs that the human body will accept. Its EGEN platform makes dozens of edits to a porcine genome at once - removing pig antigens, adding human genes, and inactivating embedded retroviruses - to create kidneys, livers, and hearts intended to ease the global organ shortage. In 2024 its lead candidate became the basis of the world's first gene-edited pig kidney transplant in a living patient, and in 2025 the FDA cleared it for a formal clinical trial.
Fore Biotherapeutics is a Philadelphia-based, registration-stage precision oncology company developing targeted therapies for patients with hard-to-treat cancers. Its lead candidate, plixorafenib, is a next-generation BRAF inhibitor (a 'dimer breaker') aimed at BRAF-altered solid tumors, including BRAF V600E-mutated high-grade glioma, for which it received FDA Breakthrough Therapy Designation in 2026. Spun out of the Israeli functional-genomics company NovellusDx, Fore has raised more than $200M to push plixorafenib toward an accelerated FDA approval pathway.
GeneCentric Therapeutics is a Durham, North Carolina precision-oncology company that reads cancer's gene activity, not just its mutations, from a tube of blood. Its proprietary EXpressCT technology infers RNA-based gene expression signatures from cell-free DNA fragmentomics, and its GenomicsNext platform combines that expression read-out with DNA variant detection in a single liquid biopsy. The company also markets PurIST, an RNA expression subtyping test for pancreatic cancer. Founded in 2011 out of gene-expression research at UNC, GeneCentric partners with biopharma and commercial labs to bring richer, blood-based biomarkers into routine cancer care.
Geneoscopy is a St. Louis life-sciences company building noninvasive diagnostics that read RNA biomarkers in stool to prevent, detect, and treat gastrointestinal disease. Its flagship product, ColoSense, is the first FDA-approved multi-target stool RNA (mt-sRNA) test for colorectal cancer screening in adults 45 and older, designed to lift screening compliance by replacing the colonoscopy prep and the clinic visit with a kit that arrives in the mail. Founded by siblings Andrew and Erica Barnell, the company is extending its RNA platform from cancer screening into inflammatory bowel disease.
HebeCell Corp is a Natick, Massachusetts biotech developing allogeneic, off-the-shelf cell therapies grown from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). Its core invention is a suspension-bioreactor platform, ProtoNK, that produces natural killer (NK) cells indefinitely and at scale - a manufacturing approach the company says no other lab can match. Founded in 2016, HebeCell aims to make cancer and degenerative-disease therapies cheaper, safer, and available without a matched donor, under the tagline 'Incurable no more.'
Inflammatix is a Sunnyvale, California molecular diagnostics company that reads the body's own immune response instead of hunting for the pathogen. Its FDA-cleared TriVerity test measures 29 host mRNAs from a blood sample and, using machine-learning algorithms, returns three scores in about 30 minutes: likelihood of bacterial infection, likelihood of viral infection, and overall illness severity. Run on the company's benchtop Myrna instrument, it is built for emergency and critical-care clinicians who need to decide fast whether a patient is heading toward sepsis. Spun out of Stanford in 2016, the company has raised more than $205M.
Kriya Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company building one-time, AAV-based gene therapies for prevalent chronic diseases of high unmet need. Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Morrisville, North Carolina with operations in Silicon Valley, Kriya pairs a proprietary, vertically integrated manufacturing and R&D engine with a pipeline spanning ophthalmology, metabolic disease, and neurology. Its bet: gene therapy shouldn't be reserved for the rare few, but engineered and manufactured at the scale and cost needed to reach millions.
Kula Bio is a Massachusetts climate-tech company turning naturally occurring nitrogen-fixing microbes into living fertilizer factories that run inside the soil. Born from Harvard chemist Dan Nocera's 'bionic leaf' research, the company supercharges Xanthobacter autotrophicus with a renewable-energy carbon source so the bacteria deliver plant-available nitrogen at the root zone, on demand. Field trials show its flagship Kula-N can replace as much as 80% of a farm's synthetic nitrogen use without the runoff or the fossil-fuel footprint of conventional fertilizer.
Larkspur Biosciences is a Cambridge, Massachusetts precision-oncology company building first-in-class small molecule protein degraders that attack cancer cells where they are most vulnerable. Using its machine-learning-enabled LarkX platform to pinpoint 'cancer cell fitness' genes, Larkspur designs drugs that trigger tumor-intrinsic cell death and disrupt how cancers hide from the immune system. Its lead candidate, LRK-4189, degrades the lipid kinase PIP4K2C and entered first-in-human Phase 1 testing in December 2025 for microsatellite stable colorectal cancer.
Light Horse Therapeutics is a San Diego biotech founded in 2023 that flips traditional drug discovery on its head. Using a proprietary 'function-first' platform that pairs systematic CRISPR-based gene editing with chemical biology, the company first pinpoints which exact regions of a disease-driving protein are functionally critical, then hunts for small molecules that hit those precise sites. Launched out of Versant Ventures' Inception Discovery Engine with a $62M Series A and a Novartis collaboration worth up to $1 billion in milestones, Light Horse is targeting some of oncology's toughest, historically 'undruggable' proteins.
Andy Kidd is the chief executive officer of Tentarix Biotherapeutics, a San Diego company building conditionally active multispecific biologics for oncology and autoimmune disease through its Tentacles platform. A physician turned operator, he carries an unusual pairing of credentials - an M.D. from Oxford and a CFA - and spent over two decades crossing from the consulting room into the boardroom, from Boston Consulting Group to Baxter International to the helm of Nasdaq-listed Aptinyx, which he took public. He stepped into the Tentarix CEO seat in April 2024 to scale a science-heavy startup backed by partnerships with Gilead and AbbVie.
MARAbio is a Salt Lake City precision-immunology company that built the first-ever blood test to identify Maternal Autoantibody Related Autism (MARA), a biological subtype of autism caused by a mother's own IgG autoantibodies crossing the placenta and binding fetal brain proteins. Founded on more than two decades of research by Dr. Judy Van de Water at the UC Davis MIND Institute, the company's MAR-Autism test screens mothers for specific autoantibody combinations linked to autism risk, and the company is now extending the science toward therapeutics that could neutralize those antibodies before they reach a developing brain.
Marengo Therapeutics is a Cambridge, Massachusetts clinical-stage biotech reprogramming the immune system from the inside out. Instead of releasing the brakes on T cells the way checkpoint inhibitors do, Marengo's STAR (Selective T Cell Activation Repertoire) platform builds antibody-fusion molecules that target variable regions of the T cell receptor (Vβ) to selectively wake up the specific subsets of T cells that can attack tumors - and remember them. Launched in 2021 with $80M from Apple Tree Partners, its lead drug invikafusp alfa (STAR0602) is in Phase 1/2 trials, has earned FDA Fast Track designation, and is being studied across cancers that no longer respond to PD-1 therapy.
Moonwalk Biosciences is a San Francisco Bay Area biotech building precision epigenetic medicines. Co-founded by former Illumina CTO Alex Aravanis and CRISPR pioneer Feng Zhang, the company pairs whole-genome, single-cell epigenome mapping with AI-guided 'read-and-write' epigenetic editing tools that reprogram cells to a healthy state without cutting or altering the underlying DNA. Launched out of stealth in January 2024 with $57 million in seed and Series A funding, Moonwalk aims to file its first IND within a few years.