Best Life Sciences Companies in Durham, United States
The 192 best Life Sciences companies in Durham, United States in 2026, ranked by funding and momentum. Funding, investors, founders, valuation, tech stack and live signals. Top: BioCryst.
Our analysis of 164 Life Sciences companies
$34.7b in tracked funding; 83% of the stack-profiled cohort runs cloud-native; funding activity peaked in 2025.
Ranked: Best Life Sciences companies in Durham
| # | Company | Disclosed funding | Last round | Employees | Founded | Founder | Patents & IP focus | Recent signals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BioCryst Developer of small molecule drugs for orphan & autoimmune diseases and antivirals | $867M | 54 mo ago | 536 536 → 615 (+15%) | 1986 | Jon Stonehouse CEO | — | 1 internship |
| 2 | Areteia Developer of therapeutics for eosinophilic asthma | $425M | 28 mo ago | 19 | 2022 | Jorge Bartolome CEO | — | — |
| 3 | Humacyte Provider of human tissue-based products for vascular disease | $425M | 62 mo ago | 70 70 → 166 (+137%) | 2004 | Juliana Blum Co-Founder | 137 patents Engineered vascular grafts and medicated implantable matrices for blood vessel replacement. | — |
| 4 | AskBio Developer of AAV technologies for treating genetic and complex disorders | $235M | 69 mo ago | 900 | 2001 | Jude Samulski Co-Founder & CSO | 75 patents AAV-based gene therapy vectors for kidney delivery and neurological disease treatment | 1 partnership · 1 award |
| 5 | GenetronHealth Provider of services in the development of precision medicine tools for cancer treatment | $191M | 78 mo ago | 993 | 2013 | Sizhen Wang Co-Founder & CEO | — | 1 launch |
| 6 | Argos Therapeutics RNA-based dendritic cell therapies for cancer and infectious diseases. | $170M | 108 mo ago | 120 | 1997 | — | 243 patents Immunotherapy platforms: dendritic cell vaccines, CD83 peptides, anti‑IFN‑α antibodies, cell processing. | — |
| 7 | Viamet Pharmaceuticals Innovation hub revolutionizing healthcare, education, safety, energy, and technology with AI | $161M | 116 mo ago | 13 | 2005 | Tom O'halloran Co-Founder | 395 patents Fluorinated heterocyclic antifungal agrochemicals and metalloenzyme inhibitor therapeutics. | — |
| 8 | Pairwise Provider of gene editing technology for climate-resilient, nutritious, and sustainable crops | $155M | 21 mo ago | 163 | 2017 | Tom Adams CEO | — | 1 internship · 1 partnership · 1 award |
| 9 | Precision BioSciences Developer of gene editing therapies to treat rare genetic diseases 57Product top 19%Funding top 21%Moat top 32%Patents top 36% All 11 signals ▾Producttop 19% Fundingtop 21% Moattop 32% Patentstop 36% Newstop 38% Markettop 39% Techtop 41% Innovationtop 42% Growthbottom 47% Globalbottom 42% Fin. healthbottom 39% Product: 3 distinct product lines · Company stage: Public Funding: Raised $136M across 9 rounds · 9 rounds over 16 yrs (0.6/yr) rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 57/100 | $136M | 3 mo ago | 236 | 2006 | — | 68 patents Therapeutic genome editing using engineered meganucleases and engineered T‑cell therapies | 1 launch |
| 10 | StrideBio Developer of AAV based gene therapies for rare diseases | $98M | 63 mo ago | 109 | 2015 | — | 89 patents Recombinant adeno-associated virus vector production and gene‑therapy delivery systems. | — |
| 11 | Baebies Provider of diagnostic products for pediatrics | $94M | 9 mo ago | 133 133 → 73 (-45%) | 2013 | Richard West Co-Founder & CEO | 56 patents Rapid microfluidic PCR and point‑of‑care diagnostic platforms for biochemical assays | 3 launchs |
| 12 | Xilis Developer of drug discovery and precision therapy platform for oncology 53Patents top 21%Moat top 21%Innovation top 22%Funding top 26% All 9 signals ▾Patentstop 21% Moattop 21% Innovationtop 22% Fundingtop 26% Talentbottom 49% Marketbottom 46% Globalbottom 42% Techbottom 29% Newsbottom 22% Patents: 97 patents matched (strict assignee match) · 96 filings since 2022 vs 1 in 2017-21 Moat: Editorial + unicorn rating 8/10 · IP moat: 97 patents rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 53/100 | $89M | 14 mo ago | 72 | 2019 | Hans Clevers Co-Founder | 97 patents Micro-organosphere generation, manipulation, and drug testing via advanced microfluidic platforms | — |
| 13 | Atsena Therapeutics Developer of gene therapies for the treatment of ocular diseases | $88M | 9 mo ago | 23 23 → 49 (+113%) | 2020 | Shannon Boye Founder & Director | — | 1 partnership |
| 14 | Aerami Developer of therapeutics to treat cardiopulmonary diseases | $58M | 31 mo ago | 17 | 2010 | — | — | — |
| 15 | Tellus Therapeutics Developer of therapeutic products to treat brain injury in children | $37M | 42 mo ago | 8 | 2018 | Eric Benner Co-Founder | — | — |
| 16 | 410 Medical Provider of rapid infusion system for critically ill patients | $37M | 15 mo ago | 33 | 2012 | Mark Piehl Co-Founder & CMO | — | — |
| 17 | T3D Therapeutics Developer of therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases | $33M | 10 mo ago | 14 | 2013 | John Didsbury Founder and CEO | — | — |
| 18 | Polarean Imaging Developer of hyperloarized gas MRI for lung imaging | $31M | 24 mo ago | 28 28 → 29 (+4%) | 2012 | Bastiaan Driehuys Founder | — | — |
| 19 | Incyclix Bio A next-generation cell cycle control company advancing precision treatments for cancer 21Funding top 25%Talent top 28%Moat top 39%Tech bottom 31% All 6 signals ▾Fundingtop 25% Talenttop 28% Moattop 39% Techbottom 31% Globalbottom 29% Marketbottom 20% Funding: Raised $30.0M across 3 rounds · 3 rounds over 4 yrs (0.8/yr) Talent: 4 named leaders on record · 4 C-suite/founder profiles curated rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 21/100 | $30M | 2 mo ago | 6 | 2020 | Patrick Roberts Co-Founder & CEO | — | — |
| 20 | Levee Medical Developer of urological devices for post-prostatectomy | $27M | 4 mo ago | 3 | 2021 | Bruce Choi Founder & CTO | — | — |
| 21 | CytexOrtho Developer of bio-artificial devices to treat musculoskeletal diseases 32Funding top 38%Talent top 38%Growth top 41%Fin. health bottom 45% All 7 signals ▾Fundingtop 38% Talenttop 38% Growthtop 41% Fin. healthbottom 45% Techbottom 41% Globalbottom 32% Marketbottom 24% Funding: Raised $24.4M across 17 rounds · 17 rounds over 4 yrs (4.2/yr) Talent: 2 named leaders on record · 2 C-suite/founder profiles curated rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 32/100 | $24M | 14 mo ago | 10 | 2006 | Frank Moutos Co-Founder | — | — |
| 22 | Opus Genetics Developer of gene therapies to treat retinal degenerative diseases 42Patents top 29%Funding top 30%Moat top 32%Innovation top 34% All 11 signals ▾Patentstop 29% Fundingtop 30% Moattop 32% Innovationtop 34% Talenttop 38% Growthtop 47% Techtop 50% Newstop 50% Globalbottom 36% Marketbottom 31% Fin. healthbottom 28% Patents: 26 patents matched (strict assignee match) · 26 filings since 2022 vs 0 in 2017-21 Funding: Raised $23.5M across 4 rounds · 4 rounds over 5 yrs (0.8/yr) rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 42/100 | $24M | 10 mo ago | 14 | 2021 | Jason Menzo Co-Founder | 26 patents Ophthalmic alpha‑adrenergic antagonist drugs for mydriasis, presbyopia, and AMD treatment | — |
| 23 | Reactive Biosciences Developer of boron-based medicines for various disease conditions | $23M | 16 mo ago | — | 2021 | Julie Grant CEO | — | — |
| 24 | Cell Microsystems Developer of a technology to isolate and recover single cells for molecular analysis | $19M | 33 mo ago | 28 | 2009 | — | — | — |
| 25 | GeneCentric Developer of diagnostics for cancer classification and treatment | $19M | 12 mo ago | 19 | 2011 | — | — | — |
| 26 | Ten63 Developer of therapeutics for undruggable targets 21Talent top 28%Funding top 32%Moat top 35%News top 44% All 7 signals ▾Talenttop 28% Fundingtop 32% Moattop 35% Newstop 44% Globalbottom 39% Techbottom 26% Marketbottom 24% Talent: 4 named leaders on record · 4 C-suite/founder profiles curated Funding: Raised $18.3M across 3 rounds · 3 rounds over 7 yrs (0.4/yr) rank vs industry peers · Fliar Intelligence Index 21/100 | $18M | 3 mo ago | 10 | 2019 | Mark Hallen Co-Founder & CTO | — | — |
| 27 | Xemed Developing inhaled diagnostic agents for respiratory diseases using hyperpolarized gas MRI | $18M | 16 mo ago | 10 | 2004 | William Hersman Founder & CEO | 13 patents Patents concentrated in electrical & electronics | — |
| 28 | Cerulean Scientific Developer of an implantable medical devices for vascular patients | $14M | 11 mo ago | — | 2023 | Lora Allemeier CEO | — | — |
| 29 | Ascent Bio-Nano Technologies Innovating acoustofluidic technologies for research, diagnostics, and therapeutics with social impact | $14M | 9 mo ago | 2 | 2011 | Lin Wang Co-Founder & CEO | — | — |
| 30 | Deep Blue Medical Advance Developer of hernia mesh devices for treating hernia | $13M | 9 mo ago | 12 | 2015 | — | — | — |
| 31 | Inanovate Provider of multiplexed protein quantification platform for clinical diagnostics and research | $11M | 14 mo ago | 11 | 2006 | David Ure Chairman & Founder | 30 patents High-throughput immunoassay platforms for serology and cancer biomarker detection | — |
| 32 | Evecxia Therapeutics Developing 5-HTP drugs to amplify serotonin for mental illness treatment | $10M | 9 mo ago | 10 | 2013 | Marc Caron Co-Founder | — | — |
| 33 | Vascular BioSciences Vascular BioSciences: Pioneering targeted therapies, interventional devices, and molecular diagnostics | $8M | 14 mo ago | 24 | 1990 | David Mann CEO & Chairman | — | — |
| 34 | Lindy Biosciences Developer of formulation technology for bio-therapeutics drug delivery | $7M | 27 mo ago | 4 | 2016 | — | — | — |
| 35 | Celldom Developer of single cell analysis device | $6M | 14 mo ago | 9 | 2016 | Zachary Forbes Founder & CEO | 8 patents Microfluidic single-cell assay platforms for drug screening and barcoded particle analysis | — |
| 36 | Avicenna Provider of drug development solutions | $6M | 23 mo ago | — | 2020 | Pieter Burger Co-Founder | — | — |
| 37 | Altis Biosystems Provider of invitro platform for drug testing | $5M | 6 mo ago | 29 | 2015 | Scott Magness Co-Founder | — | — |
| 38 | EydisBio Developer of therapeutics for immunological disorders | $5M | 21 mo ago | 2 | 2016 | Timothy Haystead Co-Founder | — | — |
| 39 | Alleviate Health Provider of AI-powered platform for clinical research participant recruitment workflows | $4M | 8 mo ago | — | 2023 | Saathvik Boompelli Co-Founder | — | — |
| 40 | inSoma Bio Provider of protein-based biomaterials for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine | $3M | 6 mo ago | 6 | 2018 | Stefan Roberts Co-Founder & CEO | — | — |
| 41 | Reselute Developer of solutions for the treatment of orthopedic-related infections | $3M | 12 mo ago | 5 | 2022 | Jake Donovan Co-Founder and Head of Product Development | 3 patents Orthopedic intramedullary fixation devices with integrated drug‑eluting capabilities | — |
| 42 | Galaxy Diagnostics PCR-based Human and Animal testing for vector-borne diseases | $3M | 14 mo ago | 15 | 2009 | — | — | — |
| 43 | VQ Biomedical Developer of intravascular oxygenation catheter for respiratory failure in hospitals | $2M | 22 mo ago | — | 2023 | Marc Deshusses Co-Founder and Principal Scientist/Engineer | — | — |
| 44 | Regennova Developer of therapies restoring immune balance after infection or injury | $1M | 16 mo ago | — | 2021 | Michael Vitek Founder | 4 patents Antimicrobial peptide agents for crop protection and medical/animal therapeutic applications. | — |
| 45 | Arrevus Online platform providing slot games with potential rewards and trusted service | $1M | 13 mo ago | 4 | 2017 | — | 8 patents Antimicrobial peptide and fusidic acid formulations for treating bone, joint and skin infections | — |
| 46 | Drive Therapeutics Developer of aptamer-based therapies for retinal diseases | $1M | 11 mo ago | 3 | 2019 | Ryan Quick Co-Founder | — | — |
| 47 | Aestas Pharma Developer of diagnostic imaging and therapeutic agents for neurodegenerative diseases | $900K | 12 mo ago | — | 2016 | Zahed Subhan CEO | — | — |
| 48 | Avalo Developer of a platform for accelerated crop breeding and evolution | $250K | 15 mo ago | 10 | 2020 | Brendan Collins Co-Founder | 14 patents AI-driven bioinformatics platforms for genomic, gene‑environment and spectral data analysis | 1 partnership |
| 49 | AimMax Developer of therapies for treating infection, inflammation, and pain | $200K | 14 mo ago | 3 | 2017 | — | — | — |
Top 12 Life Sciences companies in Durham
#1
Public · Durham, North Carolina · founded 2006 · 236 employees$135.7Mraised▾
Developer of gene editing therapies to treat rare genetic diseases. The company utilizes novel proprietary ARCUS platform to develop in vivo gene editing therapies for sophisticated gene edits, including gene insertion, excision, and elimination. The company's pipeline include therapies for Hepatitis B, duchenne muscular dystrophy, and more.
- Mar 2026Post IPO$7.5M
- Jun 2022Post IPO$75M
- Mar 2019Conventional Debt$39.5M
- Jun 2018Series B$110M
#2
Series B · Durham, North Carolina · founded 2020 · 6 employees$30Mraised▾
A next-generation cell cycle control company advancing precision treatments for cancer. The company’s lead compound, INX-315, is a potent and selective cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) inhibitor entering clinical development and has therapeutic targets across many tumor types, including ovarian, breast, and lung cancers.
- Apr 2026Series B$5M
- Aug 2025Series B$11.2M
- Mar 2022Series B$30M
#3
Series B · Durham, North Carolina · founded 2021 · 3 employees$27.4Mraised▾
Developer of urological devices for post-prostatectomy. It offers VORO urological scaffold a bioresorbable device for urinary incontinence in radical prostatectomy patients. It optimizes and reduces complications associated with surgical treatment.
- Feb 2026Series B$12M
- Oct 2025Conventional Debt$12.5M
- Feb 2025Series B$14M
- Sep 2023Series A$4.3M
#4
Series C · Durham, North Carolina · founded 2013 · 133 employees$93.8Mraised▾
Provider of diagnostic products for pediatrics. Its proprietary platform the SEEKER is a microfluidic instrument that enables the high-throughput measurement of enzymatic activity in dried blood specimens of newborn babies. It also has another product the FINDER which is an automated screening solution for critical pediatric tests.
- Sep 2025Series C$2M
- Feb 2025Grant (prize money)$1.5M
- Apr 2023Grant (prize money)$1.3M
- May 2022Grant (prize money)$2M
#5
Series C · Durham, North Carolina · founded 2020 · 23 employees$88Mraised▾
Developer of gene therapies for the treatment of ocular diseases. It leverages AAV.SPR, a novel spreading capsid, to evaluate best-in-class gene therapy candidate, ATSN-201, for X-linked retinoschisis a rare pediatric disease.
- Sep 2025Grant (prize money)$870.7K
- Mar 2025Series C$150M
- Oct 2023Series B$24.5M
- Dec 2020Series A$55M
#6
Series A · Durham, North Carolina · founded 2019 · 10 employees$18.3Mraised▾
Ten63 is a developer of drugs that target undruggable protein targets. The company is developing therapeutics through its platform called COPPER that uses proprietary AI technology and physical models to explore the protein chemical space and screen a large dataset of molecules to identify binding sites.
- Feb 2026Series A—
- May 2023Series A$15.9M
- Jan 2021Seed$2.1M
- 2019Seed$250K
#7
Series B · Durham, North Carolina · founded 2019 · 72 employees$89Mraised▾
Developer of drug discovery and precision therapy platform for oncology. The company has micro-organ sphere technologies which enable rapid diagnostics, personalized drug screening, and scalable patient-derived models for immuno-oncology drug discovery.
- Apr 2025Series B$19.4M
- Apr 2025Conventional Debt—
- Feb 2025Grant (prize money)$2.4M
- Jul 2022Series A$19M
#8
Series B · Durham, North Carolina · founded 2013 · 14 employees$33Mraised▾
Developer of therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases. Its product includes T3D-959, an optimal disease remedial therapeutic for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease which treats multiple defects (pathologies) of AD (beta-amyloid pathway and tau pathway) including a likely ‘trigger’ for the disease, insulin, and IGF-resistance.
- Jul 2025Grant (prize money)$2.5M
- Aug 2023Grant (prize money)$2.3M
- Sep 2022Grant (prize money)$1.5M
- Sep 2022Series B$6M
#9
Public · Durham, North Carolina · founded 2021 · 14 employees$23.5Mraised▾
Developer of gene therapies to treat retinal degenerative diseases. The company is focusing on the development of AAV-based gene therapies to address mutations in genes that cause Leber congenital amaurosis. The company's drug pipeline includes OPGx-001 to target mutations in the LCA5 gene and OPGx-002 for retinal dystrophy.
- Aug 2025Grant (prize money)$1.7M
- Sep 2024Grant (prize money)$883K
- Jun 2023Seed$4.5M
- Sep 2021Seed$19M
#10
Series A · Durham, North Carolina · founded 2015 · 12 employees$12.9Mraised▾
Deep Blue is involved in developing a hernia mesh to address the high rate of hernia occurrence and recurrence. They have developed T-Line mesh and Anchor Clips that have the potential to reduce hernia occurrence and recurrence.
- Sep 2025Series A$5.6M
- Jun 2022Series A$7M
- Feb 2021Series A$3.4M
- Jan 2021Series A$1.6M
#11
Funding Raised · Durham, North Carolina · founded 2011 · 2 employees$13.7Mraised▾
Innovating acoustofluidic technologies for research, diagnostics, and therapeutics with social impact. This biotech firm specializes in developing and commercializing acoustofluidic chips and instruments. The core competency lies in rapid prototype development for sample preparation, separation, manipulation of bioparticles, and bioanalysis. The company focuses on creating ready-to-manufacture prototypes with customer validation and collaborating with industry partners on customized product development and integration. The aim is to make a societal impact through innovative acoustofluidic technologies, offering solutions for research, diagnostic, and therapeutic applications.
- Aug 2025Grant (prize money)$1.7M
- Jun 2024Grant (prize money)$982.9K
- Aug 2019Grant (prize money)$2.7M
- Sep 2018Grant (prize money)$1.5M
#12
Seed · Durham, North Carolina · founded 2015 · 29 employees$5.4Mraised▾
Provider of invitro platform for drug testing. The company offers RepliGut a unique, stem cell-derived platform for studying many aspects of drug disposition including toxicity, metabolism, drug absorption, and efficacy.
- Nov 2025Grant (prize money)$1.8M
- Mar 2025Seed$2.1M
- Sep 2023Grant (prize money)$343.3K
- Jul 2023Grant (prize money)$1.8M
Funding & investor landscape
Notable founders
Market landscape — 10 sub-themes by coverage
Share of Life Sciences coverage by sub-theme.
Regulatory-risk over time rising
Funding & growth over time
funding rising · growth rising
How research on Biotechnology is moving in the United States
A read on the academic research around Biotechnology — which themes are gaining ground, the institutions and researchers driving them, and how the tone is shifting. Based on 6,260 United States-affiliated papers.
- Harvard University209
- Cornell University177
- University of Tennessee at Chattanooga140
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute126
- Johns Hopkins University121
- Gene33→164
- Transcription (linguistics)11→79
- Antibody11→62
- Genome6→56
- Mutation7→56
- Gene8→110
- Cell culture3→62
- Gene expression3→62
- Fermentation2→54
- Downregulation and upregulation1→50
- Agriculture19→58
- Antibiotic resistance15→45
- Public health4→31
- Gene6→30
- Production (economics)5→29
Where biotechnology is researched across United States
Location clusters by institution affiliation — each city's volume, stance tone, and a quick read on its hot topic, what's advancing, the opening opportunity, and the main concern.
Who's filing biotechnology patents in the United States
United States biotechnology patent filing is accelerating — 457,918 filings from 8,000 assignees (2016–2025), led by Genentech, UNIV California, Regeneron Pharma; annual filings 36884→44446.
- Genentech18103
- UNIV California17969
- Regeneron Pharma16083
- Amgen10510
- Monsanto Technology9754
- UNIV Pennsylvania8526
- Harvard College7463
- UNIV Texas7382