5 Up-and-coming biotech startups

What is biotechnology / bioengineering?

Biotechnology uses living cells to develop or manipulate products for specific purposes, such as transgenic foods. Biotechnology is thus linked to genetic engineering and emerged as a discipline at the beginning of the 20th century in the food industry, which was later joined by other sectors such as medicine or the environment. Consequently, biotechnology is increasingly getting attention from companies and individuals who are becoming more interested in investing in the field.

Today, the five branches into which modern biotechnology is divided – human, environmental, industrial, animal and plant – help us fight disease and hunger, produce safer, cleaner products, reduce our ecological footprint and save energy more efficiently. 

5 Biotech startups to watch in 2021/22

This particular type of business relies on the development of cutting-edge technologies by highly skilled professionals with advanced academic and technical qualifications. Therefore, companies that are getting started in bioengineering are becoming more noticeable because of the progress they represent. Ranging in niches from nasal drug development and testing to genetic engineering, biotech has huge potential for eager graduates. Below you will find a list of 5 biotech startups you should follow closely in 2021/22:

1. Cerevel Therapeutics

Founded by Pfizer and Bain Capital after they joined forces in 2018, Cerevel Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical organization that studies the biology of the brain. Cerevel Therapeutics is dedicated to create innovative therapies through the use of advanced chemistry and pharmacology, while taking into consideration the needs of their community.

Cerevel  Therapeutics states that even some of the most recurrent neurological diseases lack proper treatment alternatives, which are not totally efficient, difficult to follow and can cause severe side effects. As a result, Cerevel Therapeutics was founded with the intention of finding the right treatments to life-threatening and devastating neuroscience diseases that do not have a cure to this day, such as epilepsy, schizophrenia, and Parkinson’s disease.

2. Passage Bio

Despite being a startup in the field, Passage Bio is gaining a considerable amount of attention due to its ambitious focus on a specific niche within genetics medicine: developing efficient procedures to treat various rare monogenic disorders in the central nervous system. In addition, this biotech firm centers every decision they make on their ill patients.

Passage Bio has set their mission to provide the unwell with a variety AAV-delivered therapeutics, in order to change and improve the lives of their patients, while focusing on uncommon CNS indicators. Passage Bio keeps extending already existing and new relationships with either patients or advocacy groups. This startup also advances lead product candidates rapidly into clinical development, while at the same time it is constantly trying to develop proprietary manufacturing capabilities.

3. Kumuda

Kumuda is a US-based startup accelerating the early-stage discovery of small molecule drugs. Through its platform, Kumuda identified a potent inhibitor drug candidate for COVID-19 with the use of artificial intelligence (AI). The inhibitor contender obstructs the human ACE2 receptor to prevent the entry of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This startup is also targeting neurological disorders and other diseases.

Ongoing improvements in artificial intelligence are speeding up the beginning of reduced particle drugs. AI empowers Kumuda to leverage many omics and chemical data for information driven target discovery. This allows specialists to analyze the chemical space efficiently to find lead molecules with properties that are desired. Startups in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sector such as Kumuda are examining small atom drugs increasingly for a large number of conditions, including neglected clinical needs.

4. 10x Genomics

10x Genomics is an emerging biotech company that has shown great promise in gene sequencing technology. The company is based in the United States and recently completed a financing round that increased the value to billions. It is a major player in the life science and biological technology arena that will drive current research with the potential to change modern medicine as we know it. 

The company has only existed for seven years, yet is a major player in gene sequencing technology that is now used routinely for many types of scientific research. Not only do they design this innovative technology, they also manufacture it and distribute the tools and equipment to their customers. They primarily serve research centers, biotechnology organizations, academic institutions, and clinical research organizations.

5. Curative

Established in 2020 Curative is also considered a startup in the biotechnology sector. It is a leader in programs for on-demand public health services and infrastructure development in the United States. It carries out large-scale rapid tests and vaccines against COVID-19, also provides other essential services.

Curative partners with communities to strengthen public health services with turnkey programs, easy-to-access experiences, and scalable infrastructure, keeping people everywhere safe, healthy, and informed.Co-Founder and CEO is Fred Turner, along with to a team of doctors, scientists, engineers and experts from the healthcare industry.

In early March 2020, the company focused on COVID-19 testing in its development and test production in the United States. Curative has more than 13,000 COVID-19 testing and vaccination sites in 18 states and three highly complex CLIA-certified laboratories.