9 Finland-based biotech corporations main the way in which in 2025

Whereas Finland’s biotech isn’t targeted solely on well being and contributes to the fields of meals or sustainability with corporations like Photo voltaic Meals or Metgen, healthcare stays a powerful element of the nation’s panorama. Listed below are 9 biotech corporations pushing the trade ahead in Finland.

Aplagon 

• Basis: 2009
• Lead candidate: APAC
• Current information: Secured a €7 million funding spherical in January 2025

Aplagon is growing novel therapies for thromboinflammatory ailments. Its lead candidate, APAC, is a first-in-class therapeutic designed to behave domestically at websites of vascular damage by combining antiplatelet, anticoagulant, and anti inflammatory results. The molecule mimics pure heparin proteoglycans to supply focused, long-lasting motion whereas limiting systemic publicity — a key benefit over typical anticoagulants.

The Finnish biotech firm just lately raised €7 million ($7.9 million) to help a part 2a scientific trial in peripheral arterial occlusive illness and continual limb-threatening ischemia. The funding additionally helps the completion of three ongoing part 1 research, together with one in hemodialysis sufferers with arteriovenous fistula problems and one other PET imaging research assessing APAC’s biodistribution.

Up to now, greater than 40 members have acquired APAC with no main security issues reported. 

Delsitech

• Based: 2001
• Lead candidate: DST-1308 
• Current information: Secured a €10 million financing spherical in January 2024

The Finland-based biotech firm has developed a proprietary silica-based know-how often known as the Silica Matrix. This platform is designed for the managed launch of small-molecule medicine, biologics, and vaccines. By embedding the lively pharmaceutical components right into a biodegradable silica matrix, DelSiTech can obtain a managed and sustained launch of the medicine, enhancing the efficacy and security of the therapies.

The corporate’s lead program, DST-1308, is a long-acting injectable formulation of entecavir, an antiviral agent used within the remedy of continual hepatitis B. By using the Silica Matrix know-how, DST-1308 goals to scale back dosing frequency from day by day to as soon as each three months, enhancing affected person adherence. Along with its inside pipeline, DelSiTech collaborates with pharmaceutical companions to develop long-acting injectable merchandise throughout varied therapeutic areas, together with urology, reproductive well being, and pediatric endocrinology.

In 2024, along with the closing of a €10 million ($11.3 million) funding spherical, DelSiTech entered right into a licensing settlement with an undisclosed international pharmaceutical firm, granting unique rights to its Silica Matrix know-how for growing and commercializing a long-acting injectable drug product. This deal consists of an upfront cost of $9 million, potential milestone funds exceeding $200 million, and royalties on web gross sales. Moreover, DelSiTech expanded its collaboration with Tolmar Worldwide to develop extra drug merchandise throughout therapeutic areas equivalent to urology, reproductive well being, and pediatric endocrinology​​.

Desentum

• Based: 2011
• Lead candidate: DM-101PX
• Current information: Constructive part 1 outcomes reported in April 2025

Based in 2011, Desentum goals to remodel the remedy of allergy symptoms by modifying the immune system’s response from hypersensitivity to tolerance. That is achieved via using recombinant hypoallergens, that are engineered proteins designed to scale back the danger of great opposed results and reduce the time required for efficient immunotherapy​​.

Its lead candidate is a vaccine, DM-101PX, a genetically engineered variant of the most important birch pollen allergen Wager v 1, designed to scale back allergenicity whereas preserving immunogenicity. The know-how underlying DM-101PX can be being utilized to develop vaccines for different allergy symptoms, together with grass pollen and peanut allergy symptoms​​.

In April 2025, Desentum introduced constructive outcomes from a part 1 scientific trial, demonstrating that DM-101PX was protected, well-tolerated, and induced a sturdy allergen-specific IgG4 response able to blocking IgE-mediated basophil activation. These findings help the development of DM-101PX into part 2 scientific trials scheduled to start later this yr. 

Earlier, in February 2024, Desentum secured €12 million ($13.6 million) in funding to help the scientific improvement of DM-101PX and to advance preclinical packages concentrating on peanut and grass pollen allergy symptoms.

Faron Prescribed drugs

• Based: 2007
• Lead candidate: Bexmarilimab 
• Current information: Constructive part 2 outcomes 

Faron Prescribed drugs, primarily based in Turku, Finland, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical firm growing immunotherapies for most cancers and different ailments. The corporate’s lead product, bexmarilimab, is a humanized antibody that targets the Intelligent-1 receptor on myeloid cells and macrophages. By binding to this receptor, bexmarilimab goals to reprogram these cells from an immunosuppressive state to an immunostimulatory state, enhancing the physique’s immune response towards tumors.

Bexmarilimab is at the moment being evaluated within the BEXMAB research, a part 1/2 scientific trial. This research is investigating bexmarilimab together with standard-of-care therapies for aggressive hematological malignancies equivalent to acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). 

Current knowledge introduced in April 2025 demonstrated a 63% total response charge in HR-MDS sufferers, with a 76% response charge in treatment-naïve people. The remedy was well-tolerated, with no dose-limiting toxicities reported. Following these promising outcomes, the U.S. Meals and Drug Administration (FDA) granted bexmarilimab orphan drug designation.

Herantis Pharma 

• Based: 2008
• Lead candidate: HER-096 
• Current milestone: Initiated last cohort dosing in part 1b trial

Listed on Nasdaq Helsinki since 2014, Herantis Pharma, primarily based in Espoo, Finland, is a clinical-stage biotech firm targeted on growing therapies for neurodegenerative ailments. 

The corporate’s lead product, HER-096, is a brain-penetrating peptidomimetic derived from the cerebral dopamine neurotrophic issue (CDNF). CDNF is thought for its neuroprotective and regenerative properties, however its therapeutic utility has been restricted by its incapacity to cross the blood-brain barrier. HER-096 has been engineered to beat this problem, enabling subcutaneous administration whereas retaining the neuroprotective properties of CDNF.

HER-096 targets the unfolded protein response and mind irritation triggered by alpha-synuclein aggregation, key elements within the development of Parkinson’s illness. The drug’s capacity to cross the blood-brain barrier positions it as a promising remedy for Parkinson’s and probably different neurodegenerative ailments as nicely.

Herantis accomplished a part 1a scientific trial for HER-096, which demonstrated favorable security, tolerability, and important concentrations of the drug within the cerebrospinal fluid after a single subcutaneous injection. The candidate is now in part 1b and the primary affected person of the final cohort was dosed in Could.

Moreover, Herantis secured €5.2 million ($5.9 million) in February 2025 via a directed share concern to help part 2 preparations and partnership initiatives.

Nanoform

• Based: 2015
• Lead candidate: Nanoenzalutamide
• Current information: Constructive bioavailability research leads to January 2024

Nanoform focuses on utilizing nanoparticles to enhance the efficiency of drug candidates. There are lots of new compounds with medical potential which might be difficult to dissolve and, due to this fact, it’s arduous for the medicine to enter the affected person’s bloodstream. The particles developed by Nanoform are meant to make these molecules extra soluble to permit them to simplify the formulation course of.

Using its proprietary Managed Enlargement of Supercritical Options (CESS) know-how, the Finland-based biotech firm creates nanocrystalline types of drug molecules to enhance their solubility and bioavailability. 

Nanoform’s pipeline options a number of revolutionary initiatives, with nanoenzalutamide being some of the superior. Nanoenzalutamide is a nanocrystalline formulation of Xtandi (enzalutamide), an Astellas Pharma treatment used to deal with prostate most cancers. The normal formulation, Xtandi, requires a number of massive tablets day by day attributable to its poor solubility. Nanoform’s nanocrystalline various goals to scale back the tablet burden by growing the drug load in a single pill, making it simpler for sufferers to handle their treatment​​.

In early 2024, Nanoform introduced promising outcomes from a bioavailability research of nanoenzalutamide. The trial demonstrated that the nanocrystalline formulation had superior bioavailability in comparison with the amorphous stable dispersion (ASD) utilized in Xtandi.

 StemSight (Tampere)

• Based: 2021
• Lead candidate: Off-the-shelf iPSC-derived limbal stem cell remedy for LSCD
• Current information: Raised €2.3 million in seed funding

StemSight is growing regenerative cell therapies to deal with corneal blindness, with an preliminary concentrate on limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD). Its method makes use of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) mixed with biomaterials to create scalable, off-the-shelf therapies that get rid of the necessity for donor tissue. That is significantly important given the worldwide scarcity of corneal donors, with over 12 million individuals awaiting transplants.

In early 2025, the corporate raised €2.3 million ($2.6 million) in seed funding from Voima Ventures, Enterprise Finland, and personal traders to help preclinical research and manufacturing pilots forward of scientific trials. StemSight can be a companion within the EU-funded KeratOPrinter mission, which goals to develop bioprinted, full-thickness corneas to additional tackle the donor scarcity

TILT Biotherapeutics

• Based: 2013
• Lead candidate: TILT-123 
• Current information: Closed a $25.6 million collection B financing in Could 2025 

TILT Biotherapeutics is growing an immunotherapy designed to enhance the efficacy of most cancers therapies. The remedy consists of oncolytic viruses that selectively infect tumor cells and make them produce cytokines – molecules that assist the immune system determine and battle the tumor. 

The corporate’s lead candidate, TILT-123 (Igrelimogene litadenorepvec), is a chimeric adenovirus armed with TNF alpha and IL-2. TNF alpha is a cytokine concerned in systemic irritation and is a part of the physique’s immune response, whereas IL-2 performs an important function within the activation and proliferation of T lymphocytes (T-cells), that are important for the adaptive immune response. This candidate is at the moment being examined in a number of part 1 scientific trials for varied cancers, together with ovarian most cancers and non-small cell lung most cancers, together with immune checkpoint inhibitors like pembrolizumab (KEYTRUDA) and avelumab​​.

TILT Biotherapeutics introduced promising scientific trial outcomes for TILT-123 on the American Society of Scientific Oncology (ASCO) 2024 annual assembly. 

In Could 2025, the corporate introduced the closing of a $25 million collection B financing spherical. The funds will help a part 2 scientific trial of TILT-123 in sufferers with platinum-resistant epithelial ovarian most cancers.

Valo Therapeutics

• Based: 2016
• Lead candidate: PeptiCRAd-1 
• Current milestone: Secured €19 million in funding in March 2025

Valo Therapeutics is growing a brand new type of most cancers immunotherapy. Its know-how consists of coating the floor of oncolytic viruses with tumor peptides, which strongly activate the immune system towards the tumor. The Finland-based biotech firm leverages its platform PeptiCRAd (Peptide-coated Conditionally Replicating Adenovirus). This platform goals to ship extremely particular, adaptable, and immunogenic therapies for varied most cancers varieties.

The lead product in Valo’s pipeline is PeptiCRAd-1, at the moment in a part 1 scientific trial. PeptiCRAd-1 combines an oncolytic adenovirus with immunogenic peptides derived from tumor-specific proteins (NY-ESO-1 and MAGE-A3). This mixture is designed to generate a powerful systemic cytotoxic T-cell response towards a number of tumor antigens. The trial includes sufferers with melanoma, triple-negative breast most cancers, and non-small cell lung most cancers, and it additionally consists of an extension to deal with sure varieties of sarcoma​.

In 2023, Valo Therapeutics started dosing sufferers in its part 1 trial of PeptiCRAd-1 to guage the protection, immune exercise, and tumor response of this revolutionary remedy each alone and together with pembrolizumab. Moreover, Valo acquired regulatory approval to broaden the trial to sarcoma. 

Extra just lately, in March 2025, the Finland-based biotech closed a €19 million ($20.6 million) funding spherical.

Finland biotech’s concentrate on sustainability

Finland’s biotechnology panorama, whereas not as expansive as some international counterparts, is marked by a powerful dedication to innovation and sustainability. The Finnish authorities performs a pivotal function on this ecosystem, notably via the Bioeconomy Technique 2022–2035. This technique goals to double the worth added by the bioeconomy in an ecologically, socially, and economically sustainable method, contributing to Finland’s objective of reaching local weather neutrality by 2035.

The technique emphasizes the event of high-value-added services and products, leveraging Finland’s strengths in renewable sources and technological experience. This method not solely fosters financial progress but additionally aligns with international sustainability targets. The nation’s biotech trade focus is clearly on sustainability, however that doesn’t imply it doesn’t put money into well being biotech. Finland is witnessing a surge in revolutionary corporations specializing in areas like immuno-oncology, neurodegenerative ailments, and superior drug supply methods. With a projected compound annual progress charge (CAGR) of 9.4% from 2022 to 2030, the Finnish biotech trade is poised for important enlargement.

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