Ukko

What Ukko does

Ukko is a privately held, clinical-stage biotechnology company developing immunotherapies for food allergies and immune-mediated diseases such as celiac disease. Its core asset is an AI/protein micro-engineering platform that constructs a comprehensive, clinically validated map of the molecular structure of food allergies and computationally redesigns allergen proteins to be hypoallergenic while retaining the ability to re-educate the immune system to tolerate the allergen. The lead clinical candidate, UKK-0018, is a computationally designed modified peanut protein delivered via mRNA/lipid nanoparticle technology intended to induce protective B and T cell immune responses against peanut-induced anaphylaxis; the program entered a 32-participant Phase 1/2a first-in-human trial in Australia and New Zealand in May 2026, with initial safety, tolerability, and preliminary efficacy data anticipated by early 2027.

The company's pipeline is anchored on the platform and explicitly extends beyond peanut to gluten-related disorders and celiac disease, an adjacent indication where prevalence is stated to be doubling roughly every 15 years. Ukko has no approved or commercialized products and no disclosed revenue; its near-term economics are typical of a venture-backed clinical biotech, with funding of approximately $92.7 million across a 2017 Khosla-led seed (~7.7M), a 2021 $40M Series B led by Leaps by Bayer, and a January 2026 $45M Series C led by Israel Biotech Fund, with runway stated to extend through 2027. Customer segments are not commercial but therapeutic: peanut-allergic patients (primary), celiac and gluten-sensitive patients (secondary), and the broader food-allergy population, with future monetization expected to occur through pharmaceutical partnerships or licensing arrangements rather than direct sales.

The company is incorporated in the United States as Ukko, Inc., based in Palo Alto, California, with 11–50 employees and a leadership team headed by CEO Uri Lopatin, MD, and Chairman/Co-founder Yanay Ofran, PhD. The team is complemented by an advisory board drawn from leading food-allergy clinical and translational institutions (e.g., former CMO of Aimmune, former CMO of Eli Lilly, leadership of UNC and Boston Children's allergy programs) and food-industry figures (former PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, former US Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman), lending clinical and commercial credibility to translation of the platform.

Name

Ukko

Legal name

Ukko, Inc.

Website

https://ukko.us

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Ukko is a clinical-stage biotechnology company that uses an AI-driven computational protein design platform to develop hypoallergenic immunotherapies for food allergies and celiac disease, with lead candidate UKK-0018 (peanut allergy) currently in a Phase 1/2a trial.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Boston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Pre-revenue clinical-stage biotech: Ukko is a clinical-stage biotechnology company with no approved or commercialized products. Revenue generation is not yet active; future revenue is expected from commercialization of lead candidate UKK-0018 and other immunotherapy candidates for food allergies (peanut, celiac, gluten-related disorders), likely via direct sales, partnerships, or licensing arrangements with larger pharmaceutical companies.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Ukko is a clinical-stage biotechnology company that uses an AI-driven computational protein design and micro-engineering platform to re-engineer food allergens into safe, hypoallergenic immunotherapies. Its lead clinical candidate, UKK-0018, is a computationally designed modified peanut protein delivered via mRNA/lipid nanoparticle technology currently in a Phase 1/2a first-in-human trial for peanut allergy in Australia and New Zealand.

Product overview

Ukko operates a single integrated platform-plus-pipeline architecture rather than a suite of discrete products. The core is its AI/protein micro-engineering and computational engineering platform, which builds a clinically validated molecular map of food allergies and then computationally redesigns allergen proteins to be safe yet immunologically instructive. This core platform directly generates Ukko's therapeutic pipeline, of which UKK-0018 — a computationally designed modified peanut protein delivered via mRNA/lipid nanoparticle technology for peanut allergy — is the lead clinical-stage immunotherapy candidate currently in a Phase 1/2a trial.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• UKK-0018: Lead clinical-stage peanut allergy immunotherapy candidate, a computationally designed modified peanut protein delivered via mRNA/lipid nanoparticle technology.

Products and services

• UKK-0018 UKK-0018 is a computationally designed modified peanut protein delivered via mRNA/lipid nanoparticle technology. It is designed to induce protective B and T cell immune responses against peanut-induced anaphylaxis, offering a potentially safer and more precise alternative to strict avoidance approaches. As of May 2026 it is in a Phase 1/2a first-in-human clinical trial in Australia and New Zealand.
• AI / Protein Micro-Engineering Platform Ukko's advanced computational protein design and micro-engineering platform used to design new versions of allergens that do not trigger an allergic response but still re-educate the immune system to tolerate the allergen. It serves as the foundation for Ukko's immunotherapy pipeline, including UKK-0018.
• Computational Engineering Platform (Allergen Redesign) Ukko's computational engineering platform re-designs food allergens into safe and efficacious therapeutics intended to become best-in-class therapies for allergy. It combines a comprehensive, clinically validated map of food allergy molecular structures with protein redesign to produce therapeutic candidates for protein-based allergies, including future celiac disease and gluten-related disorder candidates.

Quantifiable outcome

• Designed to induce protective B and T cell immune responses to protect against peanut-induced anaphylaxis in peanut-allergic subjects.
• +1 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Dr. Daniel Adelman (Advisor)minorOthersListed advisor on the Ukko website; former Chief Medical Officer of Aimmune Therapeutics, Alvine Pharmaceuticals, and Sunesis; sits on the advisory board of FARE.
• Dr. Tim Garnett (Advisor)minorOthersListed advisor on the Ukko website; former Chief Medical Officer and SVP at Eli Lilly. Ukko also issued a press release on September 13, 2022 announcing the appointment of Dr. Tim Garnett to its advisory board.
• Dr. Wesley A. Burks (Advisor)minorOthersListed advisor on the Ukko website; Stuart Bondurant Distinguished Professor, Dean and CEO of UNC School of Medicine and UNC Health.
• Dr. James Baker (Advisor)minorOthersListed advisor on the Ukko website; Founding Director of the H. Weiser Food Allergy Center at Michigan University and former CEO & CMO of FARE.
• Prof. Stephen Dreskin (Advisor)minorOthersListed advisor on the Ukko website; Medical Director of Allergy and Clinical Immunology and Professor of Medicine and Immunology at Children's Hospital Colorado.
• Prof. Lynda Schneider (Advisor)minorOthersListed advisor on the Ukko website; Director of the Allergy Program at Boston Children's Hospital and Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School.
• Dr. Edwin Kim (Advisor)minorOthersListed advisor on the Ukko website; Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina and Director of the UNC Food Allergy Initiative.
• Indra Nooyi (Advisor)minorOthersListed advisor on the Ukko website; former Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo.
• Ann M. Veneman (Advisor)minorOthersListed advisor on the Ukko website; former US Secretary of Agriculture.
• Prof. Knut Lundin (Advisor)minorOthersListed advisor on the Ukko website; Professor of Medicine and Head of Clinical Education at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Norway.
• Prof. Raanan Shamir (Advisor)minorOthersListed advisor on the Ukko website; Chairman of the Institute of Gastroenterology, Nutrition and Liver Diseases at Schneider Children's Medical Center.
• Bernhard Van Lengerich (Advisor)minorOthersListed advisor on the Ukko website; former Chief Science Officer and VP for Technology Strategy at General Mills.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Intrommune Therapeutics: Developer of an oral mucosal immunotherapy (OMIT) platform for food allergies including peanut, pursuing a similar disease-modifying strategy to Ukko's UKK-0018.
• Aimmune Therapeutics: Developed Palforzia, the first FDA-approved oral immunotherapy for peanut allergy, and is now part of Nestlé Health Science. Aimmune is the most directly comparable food-allergy immunotherapy company and the incumbent Ukko must differentiate against.
• DBV Technologies: Developer of the Viaskin peanut allergy patch, a competing food-allergy immunotherapy modality targeting the same patient population as Ukko's UKK-0018. Directly comparable in indication and clinical-stage positioning.
• Alladapt Immunotherapeutics: Clinical-stage biotech developing a multi-food allergen immunotherapy for peanut and other common food allergies; competes with Ukko in the disease-modifying food-allergy therapeutic space.

Emerging players

• IgGenix: Biotech engineering allergen-specific IgG antibodies to block allergic reactions; addresses the same peanut and broader food-allergy patients as Ukko but with a different (antibody) modality.
• Generate Biomedicines: Generative AI biology platform that computationally designs novel protein therapeutics, directly comparable to Ukko's AI/protein micro-engineering platform but applied across broader therapeutic areas.
• Schrödinger: Operates a physics-based computational drug discovery platform used to design novel therapeutics; comparable to Ukko in using computation to engineer proteins, though serving pharma customers rather than developing its own pipeline.

Broad incumbents

• ALK-Abelló: Global allergy immunotherapy leader offering subcutaneous and sublingual immunotherapy products for respiratory and food allergies; a broad incumbent competing for the same patient pool and physician relationships.
• Stallergenes Greer: Established allergy immunotherapy company providing sublingual and subcutaneous desensitization treatments across a wide range of allergens, including food allergies.
• Sanofi/Regeneron (Dupixent): Dupixent (dupilumab) is being studied in food allergy and could become an indirect competitor or complementary therapy to Ukko's UKK-0018; Sanofi/Regeneron bring deep pharma commercialization capability relevant as a potential partner or acquirer.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ukkoinc
• Xx.com/Ukko_Inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors9 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 Ukko