Startups
The biotech industry needs to stop waiting for a rebound. The pandemic changed everything, though not in the ways most people think.
Oryon Cell Therapies’ lead cell therapy is an autologous treatment designed to replace dopaminergic neurons in patients with Parkinson’s disease. Phase 1b/2a data showed that the asset can improve motor function and mobility in patients.
Excalipoint Therapeutics will use its seed money to advance a pipeline of cancer therapies, including a tri-specific antibody for small cell lung cancer and neuroendocrine tumors.
Alongside R1 Therapeutics, Mestag Therapeutics and iDEL Therapeutics also brought in money on Tuesday, helping to push their respective cancer portfolios forward.
The move comes as BioNTech shifts to being a multiproduct commercial biotech, allowing Ugur Sahin and Özlem Türeci to transition back into research on next-generation mRNA therapeutics.
Stylus Medicine, a member of BioSpace’s NextGen Class of 2026, launched in May 2025 to develop new, less complex genetic medicines. The company’s in vivo approach has attracted “intense” interest from Big Pharma.
Poplar Therapeutics is seeking a “step change” in the treatment of food allergy and other atopic conditions, with $95 million raised to date, including a $45 million series A extension that closed Tuesday.
Analysts are cautiously optimistic about an IPO rebound for biopharma. BioSpace is keeping track of companies that seek to trade on the public markets this year.
Solstice Oncology will gain an exclusive worldwide license to Harbour BioMed’s porustobrt, an anti-CTLA-4 antibody currently being studied for melanoma, colorectal cancer and other malignancies in China.
PitchBook’s 2025 biopharma VC analysis clocked $33.8 billion in capital dispatched in 2025, mainly to companies with later-stage programs ready to roll into the clinic.
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