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.
Tunable covalent chemistry platform for neurodegenerative disease
Dunad Therapeutics is a drug discovery biotech developing small molecule therapies for neurodegenerative diseases including ALS, frontotemporal dementia, and Parkinson's disease. Its platform combines tunable covalent chemistry with targeted protein degradation, using monovalent small molecules that form durable bonds…
Human skin explant CRO for immunotoxicity and drug safety testing
Alcyomics is a contract research organisation providing non-animal, human-based in vitro safety and efficacy testing services to pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and cosmetics clients. Its core assay technology uses non-artificial human skin explants to predict adverse immune reactions, including cytokine storm and skin…
AstraZeneca's rare disease arm targeting the complement cascade
Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease is the rare disease group within AstraZeneca, formed following the 2021 acquisition of Alexion Pharmaceuticals. With nearly 30 years of rare disease heritage, the division focuses on novel molecules targeting the complement cascade across haematology, nephrology, neurology, metabolic…
Antibody therapies depleting pathogenic T cells for autoimmune disease cure
Re-Aim Therapeutics is a biotechnology company developing antibody-based therapies designed to achieve functional cures for T cell-mediated autoimmune diseases. The company's approach selectively depletes pathogenic T cell subsets that drive chronic inflammation, using precise targeting of disease-relevant membrane…
Antibody therapy to deplete amyloid deposits in ATTR cardiomyopathy
Immutrin is a biotechnology company developing an engineered antibody therapeutic designed to actively remove amyloid deposits from tissues in patients with amyloidosis. Its lead asset targets ATTR cardiomyopathy, a progressive and often fatal cardiac disease caused by transthyretin amyloid accumulation, for which no…
Synthetic plant metabolites for osteoarthritis and age-related disease
AKL Therapeutics is a privately held UK pharmaceutical company developing APPA, a patented oral investigational medicine combining two synthetic plant metabolites that act synergistically to target multiple signalling pathways in osteoarthritis. Animal studies have demonstrated pain reduction and delayed cartilage…
In vivo cell reprogramming therapies for degenerative disease
Mogrify is a biotechnology company developing a novel class of in vivo reprogramming therapies for degenerative diseases. Its proprietary platforms use large-scale transcriptomic and epigenomic network data to predict the transcription factors required to convert mature human cells directly into target therapeutic…
Cell rejuvenation to reverse disease and age-related disability
Altos Labs studies cellular rejuvenation, aiming to restore cell resilience and understand biological processes underlying disease, injury and ageing. Its international research institutes combine experimental biology, computational science and therapeutic development. Research includes cellular reprogramming and…
Autophagy-enhancing small molecule drugs for neurodegeneration and rare disease
Samsara Therapeutics is a drug discovery company developing first-in-class small molecule therapeutics that restore autophagy, the cellular process of degrading and recycling damaged proteins, which declines with age and is dysfunctional in multiple diseases. Its platform identifies and chemically optimises…
Next-generation targeted protein degradation therapeutics
Amphista Therapeutics is a Cambridge-based biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation targeted protein degradation medicines. Its proprietary platform generates bifunctional small molecule degraders that harness a broader range of the cell's protein-degrading machinery than existing approaches, enabling…
Clinical-stage peptide therapeutics for autoimmune and infectious disease
ImmuPharma is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing peptide-based therapeutics and precision diagnostics for autoimmune disease, infectious disease and metabolic disorders. Its lead candidate, a first-in-class immunormalizer for lupus, has completed a Phase III pivotal trial, aiming to restore normal…
Hypoxia-activated CAR-T cell therapy platform for solid tumour cancers
Korecyte Bio is a preclinical-stage cell therapy company developing HypoxiCAR, a modular CAR-T platform for treating solid tumours. The technology uses a dual-sensor genetic switch that keeps engineered T-cells dormant in healthy tissue and activates them only within the low-oxygen environment typical of solid…
Cyclic peptide screening platform for first-in-class cancer drugs
Curve Therapeutics is a drug discovery company using its proprietary platform to identify first-in-class small molecule therapeutics against targets that have been difficult to address using conventional methods. The platform screens gene-encoded cyclic peptide libraries inside mammalian cells to identify functionally…
Preclinical immunology CRO for drug discovery programmes
Nexus BioQuest is a contract research organisation specialising in preclinical immunology services for the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. The company offers bespoke assay development and in vitro screening across immuno-oncology, autoimmunity, inflammation, and neuroinflammation, including cytokine…
Phosphoproteomics platform for kinase activity profiling and precision oncology
Kinomica is a UK precision medicine company developing phosphoproteomics technology for drug discovery and companion diagnostics. Its platform combines LC-MS/MS mass spectrometry with proprietary bioinformatics to measure kinase activity directly from patient samples, enabling drug target identification, monitoring of…
LNP-mRNA growth factor therapy to restore hearing loss
CamGene Therapeutics is a preclinical biotechnology company developing lipid nanoparticle-delivered mRNA medicines to treat hearing loss at its underlying cellular cause. Its lead approach uses an LNP-mRNA growth factor therapeutic designed to regenerate cochlear nerve cells and reduce inflammation, aiming to restore…
Preclinical DMPK, bioanalysis and toxicology CRO
Pharmidex is a UK contract research organisation providing preclinical drug discovery and development services across DMPK, bioanalysis, toxicology, histology and in vitro ADME. Operating under GLP and GCP accreditation from its Hatfield facility, the company supports programmes in oncology, CNS, respiratory and…
AI-driven target discovery from human tissue omics
Relation is a platform biotechnology company integrating machine learning with single-cell and spatial multi-omics data derived directly from patient tissue to discover and validate novel drug targets. Its initial research focus is bone biology, with a proprietary observational study generating deeply characterised…
Early-stage drug discovery CRO specialising in GPCR target validation
Z7 Biotech is a Nottingham-based contract research organisation specialising in early-stage drug discovery and target validation. It develops bespoke target engagement, signalling and ligand-binding assays for challenging biological targets, including GPCRs, transporters, ion channels and membrane-associated proteins.…
UK's largest early-phase clinical CRO specialising in first-in-human trials
Hammersmith Medicines Research is one of the largest early-phase contract research organisations in Europe, specialising in Phase I and early Phase II clinical trials of investigational medicinal products. Operating from a purpose-built 145-bed facility in West London, HMR provides fully integrated services from study…