Nine biotechs thriving in Seattle in 2025

Seattle has long been known for its music scene, but today, it’s also making waves in biotech. With a strong foundation in healthcare and life sciences, the city has seen biotech employment grow by 24% in the past five years. 

From artificial intelligence (AI)-driven protein engineering to cutting-edge cell therapies, Seattle’s biotech companies are tackling some of the biggest challenges in medicine. In this article, we highlight nine biotech companies at the forefront of innovation in the city.

A-Alpha Bio

• Technology: protein therapeutics
• Therapeutic areas: cancer and autoimmune diseases
• Recent funding: $14.5 million grant

Specializing in synthetic biology, A-Alpha Bio has developed experimental and computational platforms to engineer protein-protein interactions.

The experimental platform AlphaSeq can generate protein interaction data at scale. This is done by characterizing protein-protein interaction networks with millions of interactions to aid in antibody and molecular glue target discovery and protein interface engineering. The AlphaBind computational platform uses machine learning to predict the binding strength from protein sequences. The two platforms work in tandem to synthesize and validate protein sequences, and therefore drive antibody discovery.

In its immunocytokine therapeutics pipeline, A-Alpha Bio has eight candidates focused on oncology and autoimmune disease, all of which are in the discovery and preclinical stages. The most advanced ones in the preclinical phases target the receptors CD8, PD-1, and TIGIT.

Last year, it was awarded $14.5 million from the Department of Defense (DOD) to boost antibody discovery. The Seattle-based biotech company announced its extended partnership with multinational Amgen to discover molecular glues in 2023. It also raised $22.4 million to scale its platforms and boost pipeline development two years ago. 

Adaptive Biotechnologies

• Technology: cell therapies
• Therapeutic areas: cancer and COVID-19
• Recent funding: $125 million

Seattle-based biotech company Adaptive Biotechnologies has developed the Immune Medicine Platform, which sequences T and B cell receptors that are mapped to antigens to identify which diseases a patient’s immune system is fighting. These receptors are then characterized to learn which ones would be most effective for cell-based or antibody-based therapies.

With the help of this platform, the company aims to identify and treat autoimmune diseases, cancer, infectious diseases, and neurodegenerative diseases. It has more than 58 billion receptors in its immunomics database, and the platform has received the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) nod for four indications, namely acute lymphoblastic leukemia, multiple myeloma, chronic lymphocytic leukemia, and COVID-19.

Its T cell receptor therapies are being developed in collaboration with American multinational company Genentech, and are being designed to identify a cancer target through a tumor biopsy, as well as attack a patient’s specific neoantigen. As part of its antibody therapeutics, the biotech has characterized neutralizing antibodies that bind to different regions of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, in order to treat COVID-19 in patients.

Moreover, Adaptive Biotechnologies’ clonoSEQ aims to monitor measurable residual disease (MRD) in patients. MRD refers to a small number of cancer cells that are still left in the body after treatment. ClonoSEQ has obtained FDA clearance for leukemia and multiple myeloma.

It closed its last funding round worth $125 million in 2022.

Aurion Biotech

• Technology: cell therapies
• Therapeutic area: ophthalmology
• Recent funding: $120 million

Immersed in the field of eye therapeutics, Aurion Biotech has had a lot going on in the past few years, since its inception in 2021. Late last year, it launched its cell therapy Vyznova (neltependocel) in Japan to treat bullous keratopathy of the cornea. This is the first medicine of its kind to address corneal endothelial disease. 

Bullous keratopathy is an eye disorder that results in a blister-like swelling of the cornea, which is the clear layer that covers the front of the eye. Symptoms of the condition include sensitivity to bright light, blurred vision, and occasional feeling of a foreign object in the eye. It is a sight-threatening condition that affects millions of people.

When corneal cells die – which are incapable of regenerating – because of diseases like Fuchs dystrophy or surgical trauma, it can lead to cell loss, and as a result, vision loss. Vyznova is the technology used to propagate healthy corneal cells from a donor to a patient.  

Aurion also has AURN001 in its pipeline. It is made up of neltependocel and a rho kinase inhibitor (Y-27632), and is being evaluated to treat corneal edema secondary to corneal endothelial dysfunction – a condition that leads to corneal swelling. At present, a phase 1/2 trial is ongoing in the U.S. and Canada. Positive topline results were released in December. A high dose of AURN001 improved best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), which refers to the best possible vision an eye can achieve with corrective lenses compared to Y-27632 alone.

AURN001 bagged Breakthrough Therapy Designation and Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy Designation from the FDA in December. It is the first allogeneic cell therapy to receive both FDA designations for the treatment of the disease.

It last raised $120 million in a series A round in 2022.

Lumen Bioscience

• Technology: antibodies
• Therapeutic area: infectious and metabolic diseases
• Recent funding: $5.5 million grant

Seattle-based biotech company Lumen Bioscience aims to develop affordable, high-dose antibodies for oral and topical delivery by using a surprising organism: spirulina.

As spirulina cells express more proteins than most other food crops, these cells are introduced to a gene encoding an antibody or any therapeutic molecule. As the spirulina grows, its cells generate and store the therapeutic protein. The cells are then harvested by spray-drying the biomass, and the therapeutic protein is retrieved. The powder is packed into capsules and stored at room temperature. When ingested, the cells are protected by their cell membrane, and the proteins are released when they arrive at the small intestine, where they neutralize the disease targets.

Based on this technique, the company’s preclinical and clinical candidates are designed to treat infectious and metabolic diseases. Its C. difficile colitis candidate, which is a biologic cocktail, is in phase 2 studies after being granted Fast Track Designation by the FDA, and its inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) candidate is expected to hit the clinic this year.

Lumen Bioscience was awarded $5.5 million by the U.S. DOD to support the development of needle-free vaccines, as well as $16.2 million to take its C. difficile-targeting candidate to late-stage clinical trials, and $8.1 million to treat viral respiratory conditions in 2023. It also bagged the Wilkes Center Climate Prize, which was worth $1.5 million.

Outpace Bio

• Technology: CAR-T cell therapies
• Therapeutic area: cancer
• Recent funding: $144 million

Seattle-based Outpace Bio is using AI to design proteins that help cells recognize and destroy cancer. By programming cells to make precise decisions within the body, the company aims to enhance immune responses in the tumor microenvironment, making cell therapies more effective.

Its lead program OPB-101 is a mesothelin (MSLN) autologous CAR-T program, currently in the investigational new drug (IND)-enabling stage. The candidate is derived from Outpace’s four technology assets. This includes MSLN-targeted CAR based on the company’s OUTSPACER technology, an OP1 promoter that regulates CAR expression to prevent T cell exhaustion and to localize cytokine production at the tumor site, an IL-2 cytokine to stimulate a deeper and broader immune response at the tumor site, and its OUTSAFE EGFRopt safety switch that has been engineered to improve expression and EGFR antibody sensitivity.

Preclinically, the candidate overcame obstacles typically linked with T cell therapies like poor expansion, according to Aaron Foster, chief scientific officer (CSO) of Outpace Bio. It is set to dose its first patient in a trial for people with advanced platinum-resistant epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, and primary peritoneal cancer.

In August, the Seattle-based startup raised $144 million in a series B round to push its lead candidate into clinical trials. It was spun out of California-based Lyell Immunopharma in 2021.

Sound Pharmaceuticals

• Technology: small molecule
• Therapeutic area: hearing loss
• Recent funding: $4.2 million grant

Around 50 million people in the U.S. are affected by hearing loss or tinnitus and there are currently no FDA-approved treatments for disorders of the inner ear. Sound Pharmaceuticals aims to change this by developing therapies for sensorineural hearing loss.

Most advanced in its pipeline is the candidate SPI-1005, which is being tested for Meniere’s disease, a rare inner ear condition that can affect your balance and hearing, and can cause sudden vertigo. SPI-1005, which contains the chemical ebselen, just completed phase 3 trials in December. Ebselen helps reduce neuroinflammation in the nervous system and induce glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity, which is reduced in hearing loss. It achieved its co-primary endpoints for efficacy involving improvements in hearing loss and speech discrimination.

Sound Pharmaceuticals is also involved in the cystic fibrosis space. Earlier this month, the Seattle-based biotech company presented encouraging interim data from a phase 2b study evaluating SPI-1005 in treating ototoxicity in patients with cystic fibrosis. The data showed a 4% and 43% decrease in the ototoxicity rate with 400 and 600 mg doses respectively.

SPI-1005 is also in phase 2 trials for the treatment of COVID-19, for which it has received a $4.2 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). 

Tune Therapeutics

• Technology: epigenetics
• Therapeutic area: infectious diseases
• Recent funding: $175 million series B

Epigenetics is the study of how environmental and behavioral factors affect genes. On a mission to ‘master the epigenome’, Tune Therapeutics is designing genetic tuning technology that enables control over gene activity. This includes activating, silencing, and fine-tuning the output of specific genes to reverse cellular dysfunction and disease.

The Seattle-based biotech was founded five years ago, and not long after, it made the headlines when promising preclinical results of its candidate came to light. Its investigational drug is being tested to treat hepatitis B (HBV) infections. TUNE-401 utilizes Tune’s epigenetics platform TEMPO to epigenetically silence viral HBV DNA in host chromosomes and to silence the extra-chromosomal, cccDNA ‘viral factories’ that are associated with sustained HBV infection. The therapy is delivered via lipid nanoparticles. This technology has been developed by Canadian biotech Acuitas Therapeutics.

The preclinical data demonstrated the efficacy against HBV. The candidate was able to repress HBV DNA almost completely in human liver cells and infected mouse models. It managed to target only the viral cells, leaving little to no expression change in non-targeted genes, proving preclinical safety. 

The platform TEMPO has two components. A DNA-binding domain and effectors. The DNA-binding domain guides the protein to the specific target site. The effector, on the other hand, works to alter the epigenetics of the gene in question.

The biotech began 2025 with a $175 million series B funding following TUNE-401’s move to the clinic in November. The funds will fuel the clinical development of TUNE-401.

TwinStrand Biosciences

• Technology: next-generation sequencing
• Therapeutic area: cancer
• TwinStrand Biosciences awarded $83 million in patent-related court case

Next-generation sequencing (NGS) is a massive parallel DNA sequencing method that offers ultra-high throughput, scalability, and speed. However, this technology does come with certain challenges, like low accuracy and short sequencing read length. Seattle-based TwinStrand Biosciences’ goal is to overcome these limitations with the help of its Duplex Sequencing technology.

The sequencing mechanism is capable of revealing true mutations. It is said to be more accurate – supposedly by 10,000 fold – when compared to standard NGS, and can eliminate background errors.

Its AML MRD assay is the only error-corrected NGS-based technology that provides ultrasensitive detection of MRD-associated mutations in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). 

In a patent dispute over its DNA sequencing technology, cancer blood test developer Guardant Health was forced to pay TwinStrand Biosciences more than $83 million in damages in November. TwinStrand claimed that Guardant infringed on its patents through its Guardant360 blood and tissue kits. 

Umoja Biopharma

• Technology: CAR-T cell therapies
• Therapeutic area: cancer
• Recent funding: $100 million series C

Immunotherapy company Umoja Biopharma develops chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapies for hard-to-treat solid tumors.

Umoja aims to overcome the challenges of cell therapies by engineering T cells to battle tumors while reducing adverse events in patients. Its VivoVec gene delivery platform uses lentiviral vectors to transport the CAR-T cells to specific tumor sites and attack them. This is combined with its Rapamycin-Activated Cytokine Receptor (RACR) technology, which employs rapamycin to support the survival of the CAR-T cells. Lastly, its TUMORTAG tags the tumors so that CAR-T cells can identify the targets more easily, making the attack more precise.

Most advanced in its TUMORTAG program is UB-TT170, which targets a folate receptor and is in phase 1 trials. It is being tested in a phase 1 trial in combination with a CAR-T therapy as a treatment for osteosarcoma, the most common type of bone cancer.

The Seattle biotech company has also partnered with American pharmaceutical AbbVie to develop UB-VV111, which is now in phase 1 trials. UB-VV111 is being designed to target the antigen CD19 for a hematological indication.

It snagged $100 million in a series C round to move its preclinical candidates up the pipeline in January 2025.

Seattle hub to expedite biotech innovation with leading companies

The Seattle Hub for Synthetic Biology has been set up to monitor and record genomic changes in millions of cells to better understand how healthy cells are affected by diseases and track disease progression. The initiative is a collaboration between Allen Institute, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and the University of Washington in Seattle. One of the key technologies involved is the ‘DNA Typewriter’ created by the Allen Institute. This is a molecular recorder that consists of CRISPR–Cas9 target sites. The project was awarded $75 million, which will fund the hub for five years. And just last week, it was allotted $10 million to support the training of new scientists and the launch of biotech startups.

Besides biotech companies, Seattle also has big pharmaceuticals setting up shop in the city. Bristol Myers Squibb has employed more than 1500 people in the region, and its research and development teams are expediting cell therapy manufacturing. The pharma giant has invested $149 million in small businesses, boosting the city’s economy and employment opportunities.

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