What OMass Therapeutics does

OMass Therapeutics is a private UK biotechnology company founded in 2016 as a University of Oxford spin-out that develops small molecule therapeutics against historically intractable drug targets, with a focus on rare diseases and immunological conditions including congenital adrenal hyperplasia, inflammatory bowel disease, lupus, and autoinflammatory disorders. The company's core technology is the proprietary OdyssION platform, which integrates native mass spectrometry (pioneered by founder Professor Dame Carol Robinson), proprietary biochemistry techniques, and custom chemistry to interrogate proteins within their native ecosystem, preserving downstream partners such as lipids and regulatory molecules to achieve cell-system fidelity with cell-free precision. The platform has produced a pipeline of five programs (MC2 receptor antagonist, Gasdermin D inhibitor, GPR65 agonist, KCC2, and SLC15A4) and generated published discoveries including functional hit series against previously undruggable targets.

The company's business model is pre-commercial biotech revenue generation through strategic licensing and collaboration agreements with large pharmaceutical companies for assets with broader indications, while retaining internal development of programs in rare and specialty immunology indications. OMass employs a small team of approximately 45 employees, operates from a 16,000 sq ft purpose-built facility on the ARC Oxford campus, and is backed by a syndicate including Syncona, Oxford Science Enterprises, GV, Northpond Ventures, and Sanofi Ventures, with cumulative funding exceeding £150 million. In September 2025, the company signed its first major Big Pharma commercial agreement with Genentech to develop and commercialize oral small molecules for inflammatory bowel disease, validating the platform-licensing model. The company is currently facing patent infringement proceedings filed by Nxera Pharma in the Patents Court of England and Wales regarding miniG technology, representing a notable legal risk alongside the clinical and commercial development pipeline.

Name

OMass Therapeutics

Legal name

OMass Therapeutics

Website

https://omass.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

OMass Therapeutics is a UK biotech developing small molecule therapeutics for rare diseases and immunological conditions using its proprietary OdyssION native mass spectrometry platform, targeting historically intractable membrane and complex-bound proteins for patients with high unmet medical need.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Biopharmaceuticals

NAICS

Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Drug Discovery (Target ID/Validation & Hit Discovery) (HLAIALAA)

Keywords

• Native mass spectrometry
• Drug discovery platform
• Small molecule therapeutics
• Rare disease therapeutics
• Immunology drug development

Headquarters

HQ city

Oxford

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Therapeutic Development and Licensing: Pre-commercial biotech developing proprietary drug pipeline targeting rare diseases and immunological conditions. Revenue strategy includes developing own pipeline in rare/specialty indications while partnering broader indication assets through licensing deals with pharmaceutical companies.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

OMass Therapeutics discovers and develops small molecule therapeutics using its proprietary OdyssION platform, which combines native mass spectrometry, proprietary biochemistry, and custom chemistry to interrogate protein interactions within native ecosystems. The company maintains a pipeline of drug candidates targeting rare diseases and immunological conditions, including MC2 receptor antagonists, Gasdermin D inhibitors, GPR65 agonists, KCC2 modulators, and SLC15A4 inhibitors, and out-licenses programs with broader indications to large pharmaceutical partners.

Product overview

OMass Therapeutics operates as a biotechnology company utilizing its proprietary OdyssION™ platform for drug discovery. The company develops small molecule therapeutics targeting membrane proteins and complex-bound proteins for rare diseases and immunological conditions. The platform is applied across a pipeline of five drug programs including MC2 (melanocortin-2 receptor antagonist), Gasdermin D inhibitor, GPR65 agonist, KCC2/SLC12A5, and SLC15A4. The OdyssION platform enables interrogation of targets in their native ecosystem using native mass spectrometry, providing cell-system fidelity with cell-free precision.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• OdyssION™: Proprietary drug discovery platform integrating novel biochemistry techniques, next generation native mass spectrometry, and custom chemistry to interrogate protein interactions within native ecosystems.

Products and services

• MC2 Receptor Antagonist Program Small molecule program targeting the melanocortin-2 (MC2) receptor for congenital adrenal hyperplasia and Cushing's disease. Nominated as a clinical candidate in October 2024 and being progressed through preclinical/clinical development for orphan endocrinology indications.
• Gasdermin D Inhibitor Program Small molecule program developing a Gasdermin D inhibitor for inflammatory diseases, including familial Mediterranean fever and other inflammasome-driven conditions. OMass has reported identifying functional hit series by observing the GSDMD-caspase complex with mass spectrometry and measuring the impact of hits on complex formation.
• GPR65 Agonist Program Oral small molecule GPR65 agonist program for inflammatory bowel disease, licensed to Genentech under an exclusive September 2025 collaboration and license agreement for development and commercialization.
• KCC2 (SLC12A5) Program Earlier-stage small molecule program targeting the KCC2 (SLC12A5) solute carrier for seizure-related indications, advancing toward preclinical development.
• SLC15A4 Program Earlier-stage small molecule program targeting SLC15A4 for lupus and interferonopathies.

Quantifiable outcome

• Identified functional hit series for Gasdermin D - a target considered previously undruggable by other companies and methodologies
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• GenentechcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 September 2025Exclusive collaboration and license agreement to develop and commercialize oral small molecules against a first-in-class target in inflammatory bowel disease. Leverages OMass's OdyssION platform.
• Excellerate BiosciencesminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 February 2020Acquisition of pharmacology capabilities including a team of experienced pharmacologists led by Professor Steven Charlton to strengthen membrane protein pharmacology expertise.
• University of OxfordcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 June 2018Spin-out from University of Oxford in 2016, commercializing research from Professor Dame Carol Robinson's laboratory. Ongoing collaboration on technology development and access to academic expertise.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Sosei Heptares (Nxera Pharma): Closest direct peer: a UK-based GPCR-focused drug discovery company spun out of the same Oxford ecosystem that licensed miniG technology to OMass. Both companies pursue small molecules against membrane proteins and complex-bound targets, and Nxera is the plaintiff in OMass's ongoing patent infringement litigation.
• Exscientia: UK-headquartered AI-driven drug discovery platform that develops its own pipeline while striking major pharma partnerships (Bayer, Sanofi, GSK). Comparable to OMass as a privately-held-to-public platform biotech leveraging proprietary discovery technology and pharma licensing as its core GTM motion.
• Recursion Pharmaceuticals: Clinical-stage TechBio company combining high-throughput biology, automation, and AI/ML to interrogate biology and discover therapeutics. Comparable as a platform-driven biotech pursuing multiple internal programs and external partnerships against targets intractable by traditional methods.
• Schrödinger: Computational drug discovery platform combining physics-based simulation with ML to advance both internal pipeline and pharma collaborations. Highly comparable as a platform biotech commercializing proprietary discovery technology through licensing and co-development deals.
• Bicycle Therapeutics: UK-based clinical-stage biotech developing bicyclic peptide therapeutics, where OMass CEO Ros Deegan previously served as President/CBO. Comparable as a UK-headquartered, Oxford-adjacent biotech platform with proprietary chemistry-based discovery and pharma partnership model.
• Insitro: ML-enabled drug discovery platform combining high-throughput cellular data generation with predictive models to advance therapeutics. Comparable as a venture-backed platform biotech leveraging proprietary technology to address targets difficult for conventional approaches.
• BenevolentAI: UK-based AI drug discovery company combining knowledge graphs and ML to identify novel targets and advance both internal pipeline and pharma collaborations. Comparable as a UK/European platform biotech with pharma partnership model targeting difficult-to-drug biology.

Emerging players

• Isomorphic Labs: Alphabet-backed drug discovery company building on DeepMind's AlphaFold to develop therapeutics through proprietary platform and pharma partnerships. Comparable as a tech-forward discovery platform pursuing historically difficult targets via differentiated methodology.
• Eikon Therapeutics: US-based biotech using live-cell imaging and single-molecule tracking to observe protein dynamics for drug discovery. Comparable as a platform biotech pursuing historically undruggable targets via proprietary biophysical instrumentation technology.

Broad incumbents

• Charles River Laboratories: Large global CRO offering drug discovery and development services across modalities, including biophysical and structural biology capabilities. Comparable as a broader life sciences services provider with overlapping discovery technology, though not a pipeline-owning biotech.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/omass-therapeutics/about
• Xx.com/omasstech

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds5 records

Investors7 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about OMass Therapeutics