Seven biotech spinouts to keep an eye on in 2025

A biotech spinout is a company that is created once it splits off from a parent company or university, often formed based on the research generated from the institution. A means to turn research into products of commercial value, the biotech industry has witnessed quite a few spinouts develop from research projects over the years.

From treating neurodegenerative diseases and cancer care to pioneering mRNA and macrophage therapy, spinouts are engrossed in different areas of therapeutic research. Here are seven biotech spinouts to keep an eye out for in 2025.

Amphista Therapeutics

• Disease areas: cancer and neurology
• Technology: targeted protein degradation
• Total funding: $60.5 million

The University of Dundee spinout Amphista Therapeutics, located in the U.K., is a biotech focused on developing targeted glues for a range of therapeutic areas, including cancer and neurology.

Unlike therapies that temporarily inhibit a single function of a protein associated with disease onset or progression, targeted protein degradation (TPD) medicines are engineered to destroy and remove pathogenic proteins. Amphista is pioneering TPD technology to create small molecule drugs that bind the enzyme E3 ligase to disease-causing proteins. This way, the protein is tagged for degradation by the cell’s waste disposal system known as the proteosome.  

Amphista’s targeted glues are designed with a chemistry-first approach and offer significant advantages over first-generation approaches, such as certain physiochemical properties, which enable broader cell and tissue reach and are brain-penetrant.

In 2024, Amphista revealed promising data where its bifunctional protein degrader showed efficacy in preclinical models. It shrunk tumor sizes as well as knocked down target proteins in the brains of dogs and monkeys, indicating its potential in cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. The startup has raised $60.5 million in funds to date.

BridgeBio Oncology Therapeutics

• Disease area: cancer
• Technology: RAS signaling
• Recent funding: $200 million private financing

Spun out of California-based BridgeBio, BridgeBio Oncology Therapeutics (BBOT) is a biotech involved in RAS signaling in cancer research. RAS is a protein that controls signaling pathways that are key regulators of normal as well as cancer cell growth and are aberrant in most tumors. RAS mutations drive more than 30% of cancers, including the most deadly types. KRAS is the most commonly mutated member of the RAS family, according to a study by Nature.

The startup’s lead candidate BBO-8520 is a direct inhibitor that targets the ‘on’ and ‘off’ states of KRAS. it is currently in a phase 1a/1b study designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability, preliminary antitumor activity, and pharmacokinetics of BBO-8520, in combination with the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab in patients with KRASG12C mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The candidate was awarded fast track designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The first patient was dosed in June.

Its other phase 1 candidate BBO-10203 is designed to inhibit PI3Kα/AKT signaling in tumors while avoiding high blood sugar. Patient enrollment is expected later in the year. Moreover, last year, BBOT completed a $200 million private financing to drive its cancer pipeline.

Complement Therapeutics 

• Disease area: eye diseases
• Target area: complement system
• Recent funding: $78.5 million series A

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a progressive degenerative disease that occurs when the macula – which is at the center of the retina – becomes damaged with age. Over time, it can culminate in vision loss. U.K.-based Complement Therapeutics aims to treat AMD by targeting the complement system.

The cascade is composed of plasma proteins that fight infections by inducing inflammatory responses. However, the dysregulation of these pathways can lead to diseases like AMD and hematological conditions. The startup’s current focus is on its lead candidate CTx001 for late-stage AMD, which is an AAV-based gene therapy in preclinical trials. CTx001 will enter the clinic once results from an observational study in patients with an advanced form of AMD called geographic atrophy can help inform the therapeutic needs of the patients.

Moreover, the company’s Complement Precision Medicine (CPM) platform can measure over 30 complement proteins from a blood sample.   

Two years ago, the company, which was spun out of the University of Manchester with initial funding from BioGeneration Ventures (BGV) in 2021, bagged €72 million ($78.5 million) in a series A financing round to aid in the development of CTx001.

Delix Therapeutics 

• Disease area: neurology
• Technology: psychoplastogens
• Recent funding: $825,000 grant

In neuropsychiatric diseases, neurons in certain regions of the brain degenerate and synapses are lost, leading to impaired cognition and disrupted mood among other symptoms. As more than a billion people live with neuropsychiatric conditions, there is an unmet need for newer treatments. Delix Therapeutics has discovered a class of drugs called psychoplastogens to tackle diseases like depression.

Psychoplastogens are capable of regrowing these atrophied neurons in an attempt to restore neuronal circuitry in the brain. While first and second-generation psychoplastogens like ketamine and psilocybin are hallucinogens that can cause poor reactions and cardiovascular issues, the company is developing third-generation psychoplastogens, which are non-hallucinogenic and have an improved safety record.

Most advanced in its pipeline is the drug candidate DLX-001, a therapy for treatment-resistant major depressive disorder, which is currently in a phase 1b clinical trial. This candidate could be significant to psychiatric research as 80% of patients are claimed to experience no symptom relief from current treatments. The candidate DLX-001 demonstrated a favorable safety and tolerability profile in its first-in-human study.

Founded by a University of California, Davis, professor in 2019, the company is based in the biotech hub of Boston. The company has obtained a total of $119.1 million in funding over five rounds. Most recently, it won an $825,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) to support the advancement of a neuroplastogen for hearing loss treatment last year.

Infinitopes

• Disease area: cancer
• Technology: vaccines
• Recent funding: $17.05 million seed

Another cancer care biotech, Infinitopes, is a spinout of the University of Oxford in the U.K. that is dedicated to developing cancer vaccines. Its pipeline is derived from its discovery platform, which uses machine learning workflows. The platform has been validated in preclinical models and has shown superior tumor protection compared to known antigens. The vaccines are designed to induce T cell immunity. 

Its lead candidate ITOP1 is a precision-targeted, immunologically durable, ‘off-the-shelf’ cancer vaccine that is designed to trigger T-cell protection to halt tumor progression, which has been shown in preclinical mouse models.

The biotech has been backed by Cancer Research UK, Cancer Research Horizons, and Innovate UK, among others. In 2024, it collaborated with American life science company Bruker to identify cancer antigens. It also secured £12.8 million ($17.05 million) in seed funding, which will finance the ongoing phase 1/2a study ITOP1 as a first-line therapy in patients with cancer.

Rapport Therapeutics

• Disease area: neurology
• Target area: central nervous system
• Total funding: $250 million

As central nervous system (CNS) diseases typically originate in specific cell types, most current treatments target receptors that are present throughout the nervous system, making it a less targeted approach that leads to more side effects. Spun out of Johnson & Johnson’s (J&J) neuroscience research, Massachusetts-based Rapport Therapeutics aims to create safer drugs for people with CNS diseases.

Its most advanced drug candidate is RAP-219 for focal epilepsy, a neurological condition that causes seizures that affect one side of the brain. RAP-219 is an AMPA receptor negative allosteric modulator designed to achieve neuroanatomical specificity through its selective targeting of TARPγ8, an AMPA-associated protein. ITARPγ8 expression is enriched in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex. RAP-219 is designed to be highly potent and selective for TARPγ8. It has been observed to have a long half-life – eight to 14 days – and minimal drug-drug interactions, making it potentially well-suited if a patient is on other drugs.

In a phase 1 study, the candidate achieved target receptor occupancy (RO) associated with maximal efficacy in prior preclinical models. RO refers to the extent to which a compound – in this case, RAP-219 – can bind to and interact with a specific target receptor in the brain.

The young biotech has attracted $250 million in funding since its launch in 2022.

Resolution Therapeutics

• Disease area: immunology
• Technology: macrophage cell therapy
• Recent funding: $80.14 million series B

Macrophages are immune cells that fight invading pathogens. They also help repair damaged tissues, and this was only discovered in the past decade. They acquire pro-inflammatory functions – for sterilizing wounds – after which they clear out dead cells in the tissue – phagocytosis. They are considered pro-restorative as they aid in organ repair. However, if there is damage for a long period of time, it stops being pro-restorative. U.K.-based startup Resolution Therapeutics is trying to harness the restorative properties of these cells to repair tissues.

How this works is that immune cells called monocytes are extracted from a patient. These cells are converted to macrophages through cell engineering. In the case of patients with liver cirrhosis, a chronic liver disease that occurs when healthy liver tissue is replaced by scar tissue, these engineered macrophages are administered in the liver to help repair liver damage.

Currently, two trials are ongoing. One is an observational study where data is gathered from routine hospital visits, medical records, and blood tests, which will help doctors and scientists understand how to better care for people with advanced cirrhosis. Another is a phase 1/2 to test the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of Resolution’s macrophage therapy RTX001 in people with liver cirrhosis.

The young biotech spun out of the University of Edinburgh in 2020. It bagged £63.5 million ($80.14 million) in a series B round in October 2024 to advance RTX001 in the clinic.

Spinouts: a growing trend in biotech hubs

Biotech spinouts enable innovative research to be commercialized by gaining visibility from big pharma as well as investors, according to a report by Pharma Tech. A great example of a spinout that has made it big is German company BioNTech, from the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz. Famed for its mRNA vaccines, the biotech has grown rapidly since 2008 with more than 6,300 employees from over 80 nations. 

In the U.S., biotech spinouts tend to be located in the prime hubs, such as Massachusetts and California, like immunology company Apogee Therapeutics, epigenetic editing company Epic Bio, and artificial intelligence (AI)-based organ regeneration company Morphoceuticals. 

The U.K. is also a bustling spot for biotech spinouts. According to a 2022 report by the European Pharmaceutical Manufacturer, the life sciences sector has been responsible for eight out of 10 of the most successful U.K. spinout companies from the last decade.

Partnering 2030: The Biotech Perspective 2023

Download Inpart’s latest report revealing the priorities of out-licensers worldwide.