Drug discovery companies identify, validate and develop new therapeutic candidates for the prevention and treatment of disease. The sector combines biology, chemistry, data science and clinical expertise to bring new medicines from concept to clinic.
This category includes companies working on:
Browse 495 UK drug discovery companies below.
Natural product-inspired small molecules for sexual and mental health
Kadence Bio is a clinical-stage biopharma company developing small molecule therapeutics for sexual and mental health. Its lead asset KH-001 is an on-demand oral treatment for premature ejaculation, developed from nature-inspired medicinal chemistry based on kanna plant alkaloids and optimised through standard drug…
Small molecule drug discovery targeting rare genetic diseases and oncology
Tay Therapeutics is a drug discovery company developing targeted small molecule therapies for rare genetic diseases and cancer. Its platform uses stop codon read-through technology to restore production of functional proteins disrupted by premature stop codon mutations, with programmes targeting oncology, cystic…
Global biopharma with UK manufacturing, commercial and clinical operations
MSD is a global biopharmaceutical company discovering, developing, manufacturing and marketing medicines and vaccines across oncology, infectious disease, immunology, cardiometabolic disease and animal health. Its UK operations span pharmaceutical manufacturing at Cramlington, Northumberland, which supplies medicines…
Global pharma company in immunology, vaccines, and oncology
GSK is a multinational biopharmaceutical company engaged in the research, development, manufacture, and commercialisation of medicines and vaccines. Its pipeline and portfolio span respiratory and immunology, oncology, HIV (through its specialist subsidiary ViiV Healthcare), and infectious diseases including vaccines.…
Clinical-stage antifungal drug developer targeting invasive fungal infections
F2G is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel antifungal therapies for life-threatening invasive fungal infections. The company discovered the orotomides, a new class of antifungal agents that selectively inhibit fungal dihydroorotate dehydrogenase, a mechanism of action distinct from all approved…
Drug discovery platform targeting biomolecular condensates
Transition Bio is a biotechnology company developing a drug discovery platform based on the biology of biomolecular condensates, the membrane-less cellular structures implicated in a range of diseases. Using droplet microfluidics and machine learning, the company maps and modulates condensate behaviour to identify…
Brain-inspired AI platform for multi-target drug discovery
Symbiotic.blue is a pre-seed biotech company developing an AI-driven drug discovery platform that combines generative AI with neuroscience-inspired computational methods. The platform aims to design molecules capable of acting on multiple biological targets simultaneously, with an initial focus on obesity. The company…
Preventing cancer therapy side effects with topical medicines
VasoDynamics is a clinical-stage pharmaceutical development company focused on preventing the debilitating side effects of cancer therapy. The company develops topical formulations targeting radiation-induced oral mucositis, dermatitis, and chemotherapy-induced hair loss, using vasoconstrictor and radioprotective…
Discovery platform targeting therapy-induced antigens driving cancer relapse
Errigal Bio is an oncology-focused drug discovery company developing a platform that identifies therapy-induced antigen targets arising in cancer cells that survive standard treatment. The company's approach is based on the premise that these surviving tumour cells carry exploitable vulnerabilities created by the…
Human iPSC platform for neurodegenerative disease drug discovery
Talisman Therapeutics is a drug discovery company specialising in human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) models of neurodegenerative disease. The company operates both an internal discovery pipeline, focused on Alzheimer's disease targets including lysosome biology, pathogenic protein reduction and microglial…
CRO specialising in oncology, inflammation and respiratory disease models
Axis Bioservices is a preclinical contract research organisation providing bespoke in vitro and in vivo study services for pharmaceutical, biotechnology and academic clients. Specialist capabilities span oncology tumour models, inflammatory disease models including rheumatoid arthritis and pulmonary fibrosis, and…
Fibroblast immunology platform targeting cancer and inflammatory disease
Mestag Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing first-in-class antibody therapies that target activated fibroblasts to modulate immune responses in cancer and inflammatory disease. Its lead programme, MST-0312, is a FAP-targeted LTBR agonist bispecific antibody designed to induce tertiary…
Small-molecule HO-1 inhibitors to overcome chemotherapy resistance in tumours
Aethox Therapeutics is a preclinical biotechnology company developing small-molecule drugs that help solid tumours respond to chemotherapy and other standard cancer treatments. Its lead approach targets heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1), an enzyme produced by tumour-associated macrophages that can block cancer-fighting T cells…
Clinical-stage CNS drug discovery using human brain genomics
Cerevance is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing small molecule therapeutics for neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders. The company uses its proprietary platform to profile gene expression in specific neuronal and glial cell types from a collection of over 16,000 annotated human brain tissue…
Patient-derived mitochondrial screening for preclinical drug discovery
Mitotype Precision Labs is a contract research organisation providing patient-derived cellular assays for drug discovery and preclinical evaluation. Its screening services use fibroblasts, neurons and astrocytes to measure mitochondrial function, lysosomal biology and other disease-relevant cellular responses. The…
Transformative medicines for cystic fibrosis and serious genetic diseases
Vertex Pharmaceuticals is a global biopharmaceutical company with its European R&D headquarters at Milton Park, Oxfordshire, and its international commercial headquarters in London. The Oxford site conducts full-spectrum drug discovery encompassing human genetics, structural biology, and medicinal chemistry, and has…
Stem-cell disease models and multi-omics toxicology platforms
Stemnovate is a Cambridge biotechnology company developing human stem-cell models and multi-omics platforms for drug discovery and toxicology. Its induced pluripotent stem cell biobank supports reprogramming, differentiation and the development of disease-relevant cellular models. Genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic…
Oral and injectable peptide therapies for obesity and cardiometabolic disease
Verdiva Bio is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation oral and injectable treatments for obesity and cardiometabolic disorders. Its pipeline centres on rationally engineered peptide candidates acting on GLP-1 and amylin receptors, advanced through a proprietary oral absorption technology…
Human tissue research CRO supporting preclinical drug discovery
Pharmagene Discovery Services is a UK contract research organisation specialising in laboratory-based research services using consented human tissue and primary human cells. The company provides tailored assay design and development across target expression, spatial biology, functional cellular biology, bioassays, and…
Synthetic and medicinal chemistry contract research for drug discovery
AF ChemPharm is a contract research organisation providing synthetic organic and medicinal chemistry services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, academic and chemical industry clients. Its team of PhD chemists carries out custom synthesis of target compounds from milligram to kilogram scale, contract research and…