London-based biotech, Pulmocide, develops inhaled medicines designed to treat serious respiratory infections.
The company, which has received over £181m in equity investment across nine fundraisings, has a post-money valuation of £163m following its most recent raise in January 2024.
Gyroscope Therapeutics develops gene therapies to tackle age-related macular degeneration. Founded in 2016 as an academic spinout from University of Cambridge, the company was acquired by Swiss-based pharmaceuticals firm Novartis in 2022 for £588m.
Prior to this, the company had raised a total of £194m in fundraisings, secured a £373k innovation grant from InnovateUK, and acquired US-based pharmaceutical firm Orbit Medical in 2019.
And with a total of 16 patents granted globally, Gyroscope Therapeutics is another example of the UK’s golden triangle producing innovative life sciences businesses.
Quell Therapeutics develops Treg (T-regulatory) cell therapies for the treatment of severe immune and inflammatory diseases.
Another academic spinout — from both King’s College London and University College London — Quell Therapeutics has raised a total of £198m in fundraisings, plus one grant.
Both the grant and the company’s latest fundraising came from AstraZeneca, in order to support development of its T-regulatory cell therapies pipeline.
TauRx Pharmaceuticals is developing a treatment which aims to cure Alzheimer’s and dementia. A spinout from University of Aberdeen, TauRx has raised £209m in equity.
Its latest round in November 2022, worth £101m, was to support regulatory submission to the MHRA and its go to market strategy.
Orchard Therapeutics is a gene therapy company targeting rare, life-threatening conditions. The business was spun out from University College London and University of Manchester, and has since raised over £221m in equity across three fundraisings. It has also secured £20.4m in R&D grants, including support from Innovate UK.
The company listed on the NASDAQ stock market in 2018 with a $225m (£177m) IPO, and in 2023, Orchard reported £15.8m in turnover.
Cambridge-based Apollo Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company developing therapies for cancer, inflammatory conditions, and rare diseases. Founded in 2015, the business underwent a management buyout in 2021, and has since raised £221m in equity investment.
A spinout from both University College London and University of Cambridge, Apollo’s research-led approach has attracted major backers including UK-based M&G Investments.
The company’s latest financial statement reported a record £2.48m in turnover in 2023.
Kymab develops human monoclonal antibody therapeutics using its proprietary IntelliSelect® platform. Based in South Cambridgeshire, the company has raised £225m across eight fundraisings and secured one £7.39m R&D grant prior to its acquisition.
A biotech backed by investors including the Wellcome Trust and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Kymab was acquired by French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi in April 2021. Before its exit, the company reported a peak of £15.2m in turnover in 2020.
Spur Therapeutics, formerly known as Freeline Therapeutics, develops gene therapies for the treatment and prevention of bleeding disorders.
The company spun out from University College London in 2016 and has since raised £233m in equity across seven fundraisings, alongside five innovation grants worth £2.45m. The business completed a $159m (£121m) IPO on the NASDAQ Stock Market in 2020.
Artios Pharma is a biotech firm developing targeted cancer treatments that exploit DNA Damage Response (DDR) pathways. Headquartered at Babraham Research Campus near Cambridge, the company has raised £245m across five equity rounds, attracting backing from global investors including Pfizer Ventures, Novartis Venture Fund, and Andera Partners.
Based on its latest fundraising in July 2021, worth £111m, the company has a post-money valuation of £242m.
BenevolentAI combines artificial intelligence and biomedical science to accelerate drug discovery. The company’s platform uses machine learning to analyse vast datasets of scientific literature, clinical trials, and biomedical data to uncover novel drug targets.
Headquartered in Camden, the company raised £253m over six fundraisings, and in 2022 was acquired by Odyssey Acquisition as part of the largest ever European SPAC merger.
F2G develops antifungal treatments for life-threatening infections. The company spun out of the University of Manchester in 2008 and has since raised £283m across 11 fundraisings. It has also secured £3.33m in R&D grants, including support from Innovate UK and European funding bodies.
Its most recent fundraising, a £48.9m round in 2024, was backed by a number of leading life sciences investors and was designed to complete late-stage development, seek regulatory approval, and prepare for commercialisation in the US.
Exscientia uses artificial intelligence to design millions of potential small molecule drugs. It then uses this data to predict their potency and effects, providing indications of which molecules are most likely to make successful drugs.
Before the University of Dundee spinout exited, it had raised £300m in equity across seven rounds, and received three grants worth £5.40m. Exscientia also made two acquisitions prior to its IPO, Allcyte and Kinetic Discovery.
The youngest company on this list, Verdiva Bio is a seed-stage biotech company developing cardiometabolic pharmaceuticals to treat obesity and related disorders.
Founded in Guildford in mid-2024, the company raised £140m in a landmark first fundraising in January 2025, with a 77.8% stake taken.
Immunocore is a biotech firm developing novel therapeutics for cancer, viral infections, and autoimmune diseases using its T cell receptor (TCR) technology. A spinout from the University of Oxford, the company has raised £410m in equity across 12 rounds and secured £2.4m in R&D grant funding.
Immunocore completed a $258m (£189m) IPO on the NASDAQ Stock Market in February 2021. The company remains headquartered at Milton Park, Oxfordshire. And in 2023, its latest financial statement, Immunocore reported £239m in turnover.
Bicycle Therapeutics is developing precision medicines using proprietary bicyclic peptides for the treatment of cancer and other serious conditions.
The company was spun out from the University of Cambridge in 2009 and has since raised £673m across seven equity rounds and secured £5.25m in R&D grants.
Bicycle Therapeutics listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market in May 2019, raising $60.7m (£47.9m) through its IPO. In 2024, it raised a further £425m to advance its high-priority programs and further develop early-stage discovery projects. This saw the company valued at over £1.15b post-money.
