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Radar · Life Sciences in Leiden

Best Life Sciences Companies in Leiden, Netherlands

The 68 best Life Sciences companies in Leiden, Netherlands in 2026, ranked by funding and momentum. Funding, investors, founders, valuation, tech stack and live signals. Top: Crucell.

68companies tracked
$1.1Bdisclosed funding
0unicorns
39have raised
FLIAR INTELLIGENCE · LIFE SCIENCES × LEIDEN

Our analysis of 576 Life Sciences companies

$91.7b in tracked funding; 70% of the stack-profiled cohort runs cloud-native; funding activity peaked in 2025.

576companies analysed
70%cloud-native stacks
2025funding peak (by rounds)
13unicorns
2016median founding year
132kcombined LinkedIn audience
45%of audience held by top 3
8companies hiring publicly (12 mo)

Ranked: Best Life Sciences companies in Leiden

#CompanyDisclosed fundingLast roundEmployeesFounderStagePatents & IP focusRecent signals
1Crucell
Crucell researches and develops products and markets vaccines, proteins and antibodies for the treatment of…
$443M125 mo ago1,300—Acquired——
2Pharvaris
Orally deliverable bradykinin B2 antagonists for hereditary angioedema
$164M67 mo ago66Berndt Modig
Co-founder & CEO
Public4 patents
Novel small‑molecule bradykinin B2 receptor antagonists for therapeutic use
2 job openings
3Vico
Developer of RNA modulating therapies for genetic neurological diseases
$103M24 mo ago38Judith Van Deutekom
Scientific Co-Founder and Advisor
Series B——
4Varmx
Therapeutic proteins to restore blood clotting in bleeding patients
$77M37 mo ago10Pieter Reitsma
Founder
Series B——
5proqr therapeutics
ProQR Therapeutics is a biotech company focused on developments of drugs to treat genetic disorders.
$58M71 mo ago148—Public362 patents
Antisense oligonucleotide therapeutics enabling RNA editing for metabolic, liver, cardiovascular, and neurological diseases.
1 launch
6ISA Pharmaceuticals
Developer of therapeutic vaccines for cancer and infectious diseases
$41M59 mo ago44—Series B90 patents
Peptide-based cancer vaccines and immunogenic formulations combined with PD‑1 inhibition
—
7Anavo Therapeutics
Developer of drugs for cancer treatment
$33M37 mo ago10Birgit Zech
CEO
Seed3 patents
Small-molecule WIP1 phosphatase inhibitors for cancer therapy
1 job opening
8ProFibrix
Powdered fibrin sealant for surgical bleeding
$33M178 mo ago25—Acquired112 patents
Recombinant fibrinogen production and dry‑powder hemostatic delivery device technologies.
—
9Mimetas
Develops microfluidics-based organ-on-a-chip tissue models
$29M45 mo ago108Paul Vulto
Co-Founder & Co-CEO
Series B86 patents
Microfluidic organ-on-a-chip platforms for 3D tissue and vascular modeling
1 launch
10Azafaros
Developer of small molecule based therapeutics for the treatment of rare metabolic disorders
$28M13 mo ago17Stefano Portolano
CEO
Series B50 patents
Small-molecule drugs targeting lysosomal storage disorders, especially gangliosidosis therapies.
1 award
11Artica Therapeutics
Developer of small molecule therapeutics for immunological disorders
$13M31 mo ago—Arwin Ridder
Co-Founder
Seed——
12Amarna Therapeutics
Developer of immune-modulating gene therapies for rare and prevalent autoimmune diseases and genetic diseases
$11M80 mo ago30Marjanne Messie
CFO
Series A5 patents
Patents concentrated in chemistry & materials
—
13ProteoNic
Provider of products and services for improving recombinant protein production levels
$8M176 mo ago20Frank Pieper
CEO
Series A——
14DCprime
Developer of immunotherapeutic solutions for treating cancer
$7M124 mo ago25—Acquired50 patents
Novel dendritic cell-based cancer vaccines and tumor‑independent antigen immunotherapies
—
15MyLife Technologies
Developer of a nanotech-based drug delivery system
$4M55 mo ago12—Series A——
16Facio Therapies
Provider of small molecule therapeutics for Facioscapulohumeral Dystrophy
$3M128 mo ago7David Dasberg
CEO
Series A——
17Genewity
Biotech company focused on commercializing potentially groundbreaking therapies in the field of cell and gene…
$3M39 mo ago—Arno Bisschop
Co-Founder & CEO
Funding Raised2 patents
Artificial thymus creation for immune cell therapy and regenerative immunology
—
18Toxys
Developer of In vitro genotoxicity testing services
$2M75 mo ago23—Public3 patents
In vitro embryonic development assays for toxicology and drug safety evaluation.
2 launchs
19DNage
Develops therapies for ageing diseases caused by DNA damage
$2M254 mo ago—Jan Hoeijmakers
Co-Founder
Acquired——
20IPD
Provider of treatment for prosthetic joint & metal implant infections
$2M60 mo ago2Richard Wateringen
CEO
Seed——
21GenomeScan
Provider of next-generation genome sequencing and testing
$1M43 mo ago38Peter Belt
CEO
Funding Raised——
22BaseClear
Contract service laboratory with a focus on DNA technology, genomics and synthetic biology.
$1M82 mo ago96—Funding Raised—1 job opening · 1 internship
23XS Innovations
Developer of medical device for chronic kidney disease treatments
$1M21 mo ago—Joris Rotmans
Co-Founder
Seed50 patents
Patents concentrated in health & consumer products
—
24Aeon Astron
Biotech company focusing on development and marketing of biomaterials and regenerative medical technology for…
$937K125 mo ago44Michael Lai
CEO & Chairman
Deadpooled——
25VitroScan
Provider of a diagnostic platform for precision treatments for cancer patients
$901K18 mo ago6Willemijn Vader
Managing Director
Seed10 patents
Tumor organoid immune-response measurement platforms for personalized immunotherapy
1 partnership
26ZF-Screens
Platform for high-throughput screening of pharmaceutical drug candidates against diseases.
$632K134 mo ago—Ron Dirks
CEO
Deadpooled3 patents
In vivo high-throughput screening platforms for biological assay automation
—
27Levels
Developer of diagnostic tools for the treatment of infectious diseases
$417K30 mo ago—Blandine Tallec
Co-Founder
Seed——
28Amylon
Developer of RNA therapeutics for rare beta-amyloid related diseases
$348K103 mo ago2Daniel de Boer
Co-Founder
Seed——
29Imuno Therapeutics
Developer of drug discovery and precision therapy platform for oncology
$340K55 mo ago5Jan Verhoef
Founder
Seed——
30Fibriant
Develops variants of fibrinogen protein for therapeuticapplication
$316K50 mo ago9Jaap Koopman
CEO
Seed17 patents
Fibrinogen-based adjuvant formulations enhancing antimicrobial and therapeutic peptide efficacy
—
31ZoBio
Provider of fragment-based drug discovery services
$278K123 mo ago43—Acquired—1 launch
32BIMINI Biotech
Developer of therapeutics for the treatment of cancer
$238K17 mo ago4Ger Strous
Co-Founder
Seed—1 expansion
33SysBioSim
System biology service provider
$123K101 mo ago—Basak Tektemur Altay
Founder & CEO
Funding Raised——
34NightWatch
Provider of wearable device for epilepsy seizure detection during sleep
$110K74 mo ago3Mark Bloemendaal
Co-Founder
Series A——

Top 12 Life Sciences companies in Leiden

#1
Series B · Leiden, South Holland · founded 2018 · 17 employees
$27.5Mraised
▾

Developer of small molecule based therapeutics for the treatment of rare metabolic disorders. It has developed products for patients suffering from lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs) and LSD-related diseases. The compounds interfere with the metabolism of glycolipids that is disturbed in these patients.

LinkedIn Pulse recent public activity · Jul 2026
Audience: 4k LinkedIn followers — 3.0% of this cohort's audience
Activity: 1 awards announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
  • May 2025Series B$146M
  • Feb 2020Series A$27.5M
  • Jul 2018Seed—
Founders & team
Stefano PortolanoCEO
Investors
Forbion, BioGeneration Ventures, BioMedPartners, Jeito, Seroba Lifesciences, Pictet Group
Tech stack
FancyboxFlickityGoogle AnalyticsGoogle Font ApiGoogle Tag ManagerHsts
#2
Series B · Leiden, South Holland · founded 2019 · 38 employees
$103.3Mraised
▾

Developer of RNA modulating therapies for genetic neurological diseases. The company uses VICOMER antisense oligonucleotide platform to design RNA modulating therapeutics to address specific genetic defects such as Rett syndrome, Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington disease, and more. The company's lead candidate is VO659 for multiple polyglutamine disorders, spinocerebellar ataxia type 3 and type 1 and Huntington’s disease.

LinkedIn Pulse recent public activity · Jul 2026
Audience: 5k LinkedIn followers — 3.4% of this cohort's audience
Funding rounds
  • Jun 2024Series B$12.3M
  • Jan 2024Series B$60M
  • Jul 2020Series A$31M
Founders & team
Judith Van DeutekomScientific Co-Founder and AdvisorJosh Mandel-BrehmFounder and Board MemberGail MandelCo-Founder
Investors
Seroba Lifesciences, Kurma Partners, Ackermans & van Haaren, Droia Ventures, EQT, Eurazeo
Tech stack
AstraCore-JsDocusignElementorGoogle AnalyticsGoogle Font Api
#3
Series B · Leiden, South Holland · founded 2015 · 10 employees
$77.2Mraised
▾

VarmX, a spin-out company from the Leiden University Medical Center, is focussed on development and manufacturing of therapeutic proteins to restore blood clotting in bleeding patients. Its lead product PseudoXa is a modified recombinant human coagulation factor X and is being developed to restore blood clotting in the presence of direct factor Xa anticoagulants (DOACS) such as rivaroxaban, apixaban, and edoxaban. DOACS are taken by patients for the prevention and treatment of thrombosis and stroke, but as a side effect severe bleeding often occurs.

LinkedIn Pulse recent public activity · Jul 2026
Audience: 2k LinkedIn followers
Hiring: 1 hiring post in 12 mo (public)
Activity: 4 partnerships (incl. CSL) announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
  • May 2023Series B$32.3M
  • Sep 2022Grant (prize money)$2.5M
  • Oct 2021Grant (prize money)—
  • 2021Grant (prize money)$56.5K
Founders & team
Pieter ReitsmaFounder
Investors
Europa, Sound Bioventures, European Innovation Council, EQT, Lundbeck Foundation, Ysios Capital
#4
Seed · Leiden, South Holland · founded 2016 · 6 employees
$901.3Kraised
▾

Provider of a diagnostic platform for precision treatments for cancer patients. The company offers a 3D drug response platform that helps in predicting the drug reactions on the tumor cultures for drug optimization solutions. The platform gives insights by a systematic approach for measuring drug activity via advanced imaging technology and drug response analysis for better clinical outcomes.

LinkedIn Pulse recent public activity · Jul 2026
Audience: 2k LinkedIn followers
Activity: 1 partnerships (incl. Radboudumc) announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
  • Dec 2024Grant (prize money)$2M
  • Apr 2019Seed$901.3K
Founders & team
Willemijn VaderManaging Director
Investors
Libertatis Ergo Holding, Biotech Booster
#5
Seed · Leiden, South Holland · founded 2013
$1.2Mraised
▾

Developer of medical device for chronic kidney disease treatments. It offers Dynamic AVF that opens the arteriovenous fistula to establish high blood flow for hemodialysis and closes the fistula to restore to normal blood circulation between sessions

LinkedIn Pulse recent public activity · Jul 2026
Audience: 418 LinkedIn followers
Activity: 1 product launches · 1 partnerships (incl. Nierpatinten Vereniging Nederland (NVN)) announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
  • Sep 2024Seed$1.2M
Founders & team
Joris RotmansCo-FounderKoen BogtCo-Founder & CMOToon StilmaCEO
Investors
Tech Transfer, UNIIQ, Delft Enterprises, Libertatis Ergo Holding, Graduate Ventures, BioGeneration Ventures
#6
Seed · Leiden, South Holland · founded 2019 · 4 employees
$238.1Kraised
▾

Developer of therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. The company's drug candidates include BM001, BM002, and BM003 which render the growth hormone receptor dysfunctional making the cells less sensitive to growth hormone.

LinkedIn Pulse recent public activity · Jul 2026
Audience: 1k LinkedIn followers
Hiring: 1 hiring post in 12 mo (public) · hiring: Scientist – Drug Development
Activity: 1 expansions announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
  • Jan 2025Seed$3.1M
  • Nov 2020Seed$238.1K
Founders & team
Ger StrousCo-FounderDigvijay GahtoryCEO
Investors
UNIIQ, Torrey Pines Investment, InnovationQuarter, Libertatis Ergo Holding
#7
Seed · Leiden, South Holland · founded 2020 · 10 employees
$33.3Mraised
▾

Developer of drugs for cancer treatment. The company is developing small molecule modulators of phosphatase and kinase activity that will help in cancer treatment.

LinkedIn Pulse recent public activity · Jul 2026
Audience: 2k LinkedIn followers
Hiring: 1 hiring post in 12 mo (public) · hiring: Senior/Principal Cell Biologist
Funding rounds
  • May 2023Seed$9.3M
  • Apr 2021Seed$24M
Founders & team
Birgit ZechCEO
Investors
MRLV, M Ventures, Inkef, Taiho Ventures, Bioqube Ventures
#8
Seed · Leiden, South Holland · founded 2020
$12.7Mraised
▾

Developer of small molecule therapeutics for immunological disorders. It offers covalent drugs based on covalent binding technology as well as in label-free cellular-based screening approaches for the treatment of inflammatory and autoimmune indications.

LinkedIn Pulse recent public activity · Jul 2026
Audience: 1k LinkedIn followers
Hiring: 3 hiring posts in 12 mo (public) · hiring: Research Associate, Senior Research Associate
Funding rounds
  • Nov 2023Seed$12.7M
Founders & team
Arwin RidderCo-FounderTjeerd BarfCEO and FounderAd IjzermanCo-Founder
Investors
Thuja Capital, Seroba Life Sciences, InnovationQuarter, BioGeneration Ventures
#9
Public · Leiden, South Holland · founded 2015 · 66 employees
$164.2Mraised
▾

Pharvaris is a preclinical stage company developing orally deliverable drugs for hereditary angioedema (HAE). The lead candidate, PHA121 is a bradykinin B2 receptor competitive antagonist & demonstrated activity in bradykinin-mediated disease models. The company is advancing this molecule into IND-enabling studies.

LinkedIn Pulse recent public activity · Jul 2026
Audience: 12k LinkedIn followers — 9.1% of this cohort's audience · 84 engagements/post (1.5× cohort median)
Hiring: 2 hiring posts in 12 mo (public) · momentum +2 · hiring: Thought Leader Liaison (TLL), Commercial Insights and Analytics Lead
Funding rounds
  • Nov 2020Series C$80M
  • Sep 2019Series B$66M
  • 2015Series A$18.2M
Founders & team
Berndt ModigCo-founder & CEO
Investors
Foresite Capital, VenBio, Venrock, Life Sciences Partners, Idinvest Partners, Kurma Partners
Tech stack
AosApple Icloud MailAutoptimizeBootstrapCloudflareCloudflare Bot Management
#10
Acquired · Leiden, South Holland · founded 1993 · 1300 employees
$443Mraised
▾

Crucell focused on research development, production and marketing of vaccines, proteins and antibodies that prevent and/or treat infectious diseases. Crucell’s core portfolio includes a vaccine against hepatitis B, a fully-liquid vaccine against five important childhood diseases and a virosome-adjuvanted vaccine against influenza. Crucell also markets travel vaccines, such as the only oral anti-typhoid vaccine, an oral cholera vaccine and aluminum-free hepatitis A vaccine.

Funding rounds
  • Jan 2016Grant (prize money)$92.1K
  • Sep 2009PE$443M
Investors
Europa, Johnson & Johnson, Forbion, Gimv, Merifin Capital, Atlas Venture
#11
Series B · Leiden, South Holland · founded 2013 · 108 employees
$28.9Mraised
▾

Mimetas develops organ-on-a-chip tissue models for evaluating drugs, chemicals, and food components. The products OrganoPlates, OrganoReady, OrganoTEER, and OrganoFlow are microfluidics-based culture plates for in-vitro tissue culture. It enables culturing and screening of 3D organ and tissue models, predicting toxic side effects, drug efficacy, and validates customized disease, toxicology, and transport models.

LinkedIn Pulse recent public activity · Jul 2026
Audience: 25k LinkedIn followers — 18.8% of this cohort's audience
Activity: 1 product launches announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
  • Sep 2022Grant (prize money)$272.8K
  • Aug 2021Grant (prize money)$59K
  • Sep 2020Grant (prize money)$2.2M
  • Jun 2020Grant (prize money)$66.9K
Founders & team
Paul VultoCo-Founder & Co-CEO
Investors
Europa, EIC Fund, Zeeuws Investerings Fonds, Oost NL, Korys, Cathay Financial Holdings
Tech stack
CloudflareCloudflare Bot ManagementCore-JsGoogle AnalyticsGoogle Font ApiGoogle Hosted Libraries
#12
Series B · Leiden, South Holland · founded 2004 · 44 employees
$40.5Mraised
▾

Developer of therapeutic vaccines for cancer and infectious diseases. The drug pipeline includes ISA101 which consists of13 synthetic long peptides derived from the E6 and E7 oncogenic proteins of the HPV 16 virus for the treatment of human papillomavirus type 16 induced diseases, including cervical cancer, most anogenital premalignant and malignant lesions, and head and neck cancer, and others.

Funding rounds
  • Jul 2021Series B$30M
  • Oct 2019Conventional Debt$22.1M
  • Dec 2017Grant (prize money)$2M
  • Jan 2013Series A$10.6M
Investors
Europa, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Invest-NL, European Investment Bank, Glass Frog Ventures, De Hoge Dennen Capital
Tech stack
WordpressMysqlPhpBootstrapVimeoWpbakery

Funding & investor landscape

$1.1Btotal disclosed funding
36companies funded
86disclosed rounds
0rounds last 90 days
Most active investors
Libertatis Ergo Holding18 rounds
Europa15 rounds
InnovationQuarter9 rounds
UNIIQ8 rounds
EQT6 rounds
Life Sciences Partners6 rounds
BioGeneration Ventures5 rounds
EIC Fund5 rounds
Inkef3 rounds
Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland3 rounds

Notable founders

Stefano Portolano
CEO · Azafaros
Judith Van Deutekom
Scientific Co-Founder and Advisor · Vico
Josh Mandel-Brehm
Founder and Board Member · Vico
Pieter Reitsma
Founder · Varmx
Willemijn Vader
Managing Director · VitroScan
Joris Rotmans
Co-Founder · XS Innovations
Koen Bogt
Co-Founder & CMO · XS Innovations
Ger Strous
Co-Founder · BIMINI Biotech
Digvijay Gahtory
CEO · BIMINI Biotech
Birgit Zech
CEO · Anavo Therapeutics
Arwin Ridder
Co-Founder · Artica Therapeutics
Tjeerd Barf
CEO and Founder · Artica Therapeutics
Prism market signals · Netherlands · country-scoped Prism corpus, 701 docs

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

RESEARCH IN LEIDEN · Health & Bio

How research on Biotechnology in Leiden is moving

A read on the academic research around Biotechnology in Leiden — which themes are gaining ground, the institutions and researchers driving them, and how the tone is shifting. Based on 62 papers.

62 papers · stance +0.53 · 54% breakthrough · 15% concern
breakthrough · advancement · concern
top institutions
  • Leiden University Medical Center43
  • Leiden University23
  • University of Applied Sciences Leiden2
leading researchers
Aristidis Moustakas · Maarten van Dinther · Mohamad Moustafa Ali · Peter ten Dijke · Yu Bai · Ben Lugtenberg
prism intelligence · tone & topics
85% positive · 5% critical tone
Medical ResearchPharmaceuticalsHealthGeneticsBiologyClinical Trials
▲ Breakthroughs28 · 45%
▼ 56%→45% share
▼0.8× share momentum0 median citations75% since 2021mostly empirical
Breakthroughs are cooling (56%→45% of field), led by Messenger RNA.
rising sub-themes (early→recent)
  • Messenger RNA3
  • Antibody3
  • Gene3
  • Induced pluripotent stem cell3
  • Ribonucleoprotein2
Newly emergingInduced pluripotent stem cell 0→3
Landmark Zn2+ Inhibits Coronavirus and Arterivirus RNA Polymerase Activity In Vitro and Zinc Ionophores Block the Replication of · 912 cites
◆ Advancements16 · 26%
▲ 11%→32% share
▲2.9× share momentum0 median citations94% since 2021mostly empirical
Advancements are rising (11%→32% of field), led by Immune system.
rising sub-themes (early→recent)
  • Immune system3
  • Epitope2
  • Peptide2
  • Biological pest control2
  • Receptor2
Newly emergingImmune system 0→3
Landmark Apolipoprotein E Induces Antiinflammatory Phenotype in Macrophages · 362 cites
▼ Concerns8 · 13%
▼ 33%→9% share
▼0.3× share momentum197 median citations50% since 2021mostly empirical
Concerns are cooling (33%→9% of field), led by Proteome.
rising sub-themes (early→recent)
  • Proteome1
  • Apoptosis1
  • In vivo1
  • Cell culture1
  • Signal transduction1
Landmark Chromosome Segregation Errors as a Cause of DNA Damage and Structural Chromosome Aberrations · 589 cites

Common questions

How many Life Sciences companies are there in Leiden, Netherlands?
Radar tracks 68 indexable Life Sciences companies headquartered in Leiden, Netherlands that meet our profile-completeness bar.
What is the total funding raised by Life Sciences companies in Leiden, Netherlands?
The Life Sciences companies in Leiden, Netherlands on this list have raised a combined $1.1B in disclosed equity funding across 36 funded companies.
Which is the highest-funded Life Sciences company in Leiden, Netherlands?
Crucell is the highest-funded Life Sciences company in Leiden, Netherlands, with $443M in disclosed equity funding.
How many Life Sciences companies in Leiden, Netherlands are funded?
36 of the 68 Life Sciences companies in Leiden, Netherlands on this list have disclosed at least one equity funding round.
How many Life Sciences unicorns are there in Leiden, Netherlands?
None of the Life Sciences companies in Leiden, Netherlands on this list currently has a disclosed valuation of $1B or more.
Who are the top investors in Leiden, Netherlands Life Sciences companies?
The most active investors in Leiden, Netherlands Life Sciences companies on this list include Libertatis Ergo Holding, Europa, InnovationQuarter, UNIIQ, EQT.
Rohit KhannaTrends & Stories

Rohit lives in the feed. He covers what's moving right now — the funding rounds, launches and shifts breaking across the trade press — and ties them back to where the sector is heading.

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