Yaqrit

What Yaqrit does

Yaqrit Discovery Limited is a clinical-stage UK biopharmaceutical company developing a portfolio of five therapeutic candidates for advanced liver disease, built on 20 years of research from Prof. Rajiv Jalan's Liver Failure Group at University College London. The company was founded in 2014 as a UCL spin-off and is headquartered in Cambridge, UK, with operations structured through four wholly-owned subsidiaries: Hepyx (ACLF therapeutics), Cytox Life Sciences (extracorporeal liver support), Enterosorb (microbiome therapeutics), and Amalive (hepatic encephalopathy). Its pipeline addresses the gut-liver axis and inflammation pathways across the spectrum from compensated cirrhosis through acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF), using distinct mechanisms: YAQ001/Carbalive, an oral engineered carbon adsorbent that removes gut-derived endotoxins; YAQ002/Dialive, a dual-filtration extracorporeal liver support device run on standard kidney dialysis machines; YAQ005, a TLR4 antagonist co-developed through the Akaza Bioscience joint venture with Takeda; and YAQ006/YAQ007, IV and oral dual-mechanism ammonia scavengers for hepatic encephalopathy. A G-TAK combination of G-CSF plus TLR4 inhibition is also in development for cirrhosis and ACLF.

Yaqrit holds a granted worldwide patent portfolio covering each platform and has produced 550+ peer-reviewed publications with 55,000+ citations supporting its scientific base. To date the company has raised more than $45 million in private investment supplemented by non-dilutive grant funding from EU Horizon 2020 and a £2.2 million NIHR grant awarded in March 2025 for DIALIVE pivotal trials, with pivotal results expected in 2027. Phase 2 equivalent positive results were announced for both DIALIVE (2021, ACLF) and Carbalive (2021, cirrhosis); YAQ006/007 Phase 2a data in hepatic encephalopathy was announced in April 2026; and a YAQ001 proof-of-concept study in PSC and IBD enrolled its first patient in November 2025.

Yaqrit is pre-revenue. Its business model is to develop and ultimately commercialize prescription therapeutics and a CE-mark-track medical device targeting specialist hospital and ICU settings; revenue will accrue from product sales, out-licensing, or partnerships after regulatory approval. End customers are tertiary hepatology centers, liver intensive care units, and specialty prescribers treating ACLF (grades 2–3), decompensated cirrhosis, and hepatic encephalopathy — indications with 50–89% short-term mortality and limited therapeutic alternatives.

Name

Yaqrit

Legal name

Yaqrit Discovery Limited

Website

https://yaqrit.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Yaqrit is a clinical-stage UK biopharmaceutical company developing five therapeutic candidates for advanced liver disease, including oral microbiome therapeutics, an extracorporeal liver dialysis device, and ammonia scavengers targeting ACLF, decompensated cirrhosis, and hepatic encephalopathy.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Liver Disease Therapeutics

NAICS

Biological Product (except Diagnostic) Manufacturing (325414)

SIC

Biological Products, (No Disgnostic Substances) (2836)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYHLAIAAAI

Gastroenterology & Hepatology Pharmaceuticals

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Pharmaceuticals/Branded (Innovator) Pharmaceuticals

SECONDARYHLAKAEAB

Hepatology & Liver Disease

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Specialist Medical Practice/Gastroenterology & Hepatology

Keywords

• Liver disease therapeutics
• Microbiome therapeutics
• Liver dialysis devices
• Ammonia scavengers
• TLR4 antagonists

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Yaqrit is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a portfolio of therapeutic candidates and a medical device for advanced liver disease. The pipeline targets the gut-liver axis through engineered microbiome therapeutics (YAQ001/Carbalive), an extracorporeal liver dialysis device (YAQ002/DIALIVE), TLR4 antagonists (YAQ005), and dual-mechanism ammonia scavengers (YAQ006/YAQ007) for indications including ACLF, decompensated cirrhosis, and hepatic encephalopathy.

Product overview

Yaqrit is a clinical-stage life sciences company developing a pipeline of five potential treatments addressing each stage of advanced liver disease. The portfolio includes: YAQ001/Carbalive (advanced microbiome therapeutic for decompensated cirrhosis via oral delivery), YAQ002/Dialive (extracorporeal liver support device for ACLF grades 2-3 in intensive care), YAQ005 (TLR4 antagonist via Hepyx/Akaza Bioscience joint venture for ACLF treatment/prevention), and YAQ006/YAQ007 (IV and oral ammonia scavengers via Amalive for hepatic encephalopathy treatment/prevention). The company also developed G-TAK, a combination therapy of G-CSF and TLR4 inhibitor. All treatments are built around understanding the role of inflammation in liver disease progression, targeting the gut-liver axis, ammonia toxicity, and systemic inflammation at different stages from compensated cirrhosis through acute-on-chronic liver failure.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Yaqrit Discovery Ltd: The parent company brand for the liver disease company developing multiple therapeutic candidates
• Hepyx
• Cytox Life Sciences
• Enterosorb
• Amalive

Products and services

• YAQ001 (Carbalive) Oral advanced microbiome therapeutic designed to remove harmful bacterial toxins (lipopolysaccharides) from the gut before they leak to the liver. Orally-administered, non-absorbable engineered carbon of controlled porosity adsorbs both large and small molecules, disrupts gut biofilm, restores microbiome balance, reduces gut and systemic inflammation, and improves gut permeability. Targets decompensated cirrhosis, PSC, and NASH.
• YAQ002 (DIALIVE) Dual filtration liver dialysis device for intensive care treatment of acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) grades 2-3. Removes endotoxin and damaged albumin from blood while replacing functional albumin, delivered using standard kidney dialysis machines. Modulates inflammation and targets cytokine storm in critically ill patients.
• YAQ005 (TLR4 Antagonist) Toll-like receptor 4 antagonist being developed to reduce sensitivity to endotoxin, modulating inflammation and mitochondrial function. Targets treatment and prevention of ACLF grades 1-2, hyperammonaemia, and urea cycle enzyme disorders. Developed via the Akaza Bioscience joint venture with Takeda.
• YAQ006 (IV Ammonia Scavenger) Intravenous ammonia scavenger for acute treatment of hepatic encephalopathy. Eliminates ammonia via two synergistic parallel pathways, reducing neuroinflammation and neuronal cell death to reverse neurological dysfunction.
• YAQ007 (Oral Ammonia Scavenger) Oral ammonia scavenger for prevention and treatment of recurrence of hepatic encephalopathy. Removes ammonia in blood and brain, reducing neuroinflammation and neuronal cell death, and reversing neurological dysfunction.
• G-TAK (G-CSF + TLR4 Inhibitor Combination) Novel combinatorial therapy combining G-CSF with TLR4 inhibitor for cirrhosis and ACLF. G-CSF enables subsequent liver regeneration while TLR4 inhibitor reduces inflammation.

Quantifiable outcome

• Twice as many ACLF patients recovered to no-organ-failure status with DIALIVE vs control (p=0.03)
• +4 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and supporting.

• University College London (UCL)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2014Yaqrit was spun off from UCL in 2014 based on 20 years of pioneering research by Prof. Rajiv Jalan and the Liver Failure Group. UCL research forms the scientific foundation for all of Yaqrit's therapeutic candidates. Prof. Jalan serves as Founder and CMO while maintaining his academic position at UCL.
• Takeda PharmaceuticalcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTakeda Pharmaceutical collaborated with Yaqrit through a joint venture called Akaza Bioscience (with Zenios Bioscience) to develop TLR4 antagonists (YAQ005) for ACLF patients. Takeda conceptualized and led the TAK-celerator initiative for rare disease therapies.
• Akaza BiosciencecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint venture between Yaqrit, Takeda Pharmaceutical, and Zenios Bioscience developing TLR4 antagonist (YAQ005) for treatment of ACLF. Yaqrit has plans to develop TLR4 antagonists for other indications including prevention of ACLF, hyperammonaemia, and urea cycle enzyme disorders.
• European Foundation for the Study of Chronic Liver Failure (EF CLIF)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner in both ALIVER and CARBALIVE consortia. Prof. Jalan served as Scientific Director of EF CLIF. Collaborates on clinical research and development of treatments for advanced liver disease.
• European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization in ALIVER and CARBALIVE consortia. EASL is the European professional organization for hepatology that supports clinical research and education in liver disease.
• ALIVER ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEU-funded consortium focused on developing DIALIVE for ACLF treatment. Funded by Horizon 2020 (grant agreement No 733057). Includes partners from across Europe led by UCL, with Yaqrit holding IP and commercial rights for DIALIVE.
• CARBALIVE ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEU-funded consortium developing Carbalive/YAQ001 for decompensated cirrhosis. Funded by Horizon 2020 (grant agreement No 634579). Led by UCL with partners from eight countries across Europe. Yaqrit holds IP and commercial rights.
• Royal Free HospitalmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLeading UK hospital where DIALIVE clinical trials are conducted under co-principal investigators Prof. Banwari Agarwal and Dr Rohit Saha. Prof. Jalan serves as consultant hepatologist at Royal Free Hospital.
• Kings College Hospital LondonmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLeading liver disease center where DIALIVE clinical trials are conducted under Dr Sameer Patel.
• Queen Elizabeth Hospital BirminghammajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSite for YAQ001 proof-of-concept study in PSC and IBS patients. Dr Mansoor Bangash serves as co-investigator for DIALIVE trials.
• ProPharma GroupsupportingImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerProPharma provides regulatory and quality management expertise through Jan Bart Hak, Director Medtech Regulatory Sciences EU, who leads the European medical device team providing Yaqrit with expertise in quality management systems, regulatory affairs, and clinical strategies.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• BioVie: BioVie is developing NE3107 for hepatic encephalopathy and related CNS disorders, making it a direct therapeutic-area peer to Yaqrit's YAQ006/YAQ007 ammonia scavenger program in advanced liver disease.
• Akero Therapeutics: Akero is developing efruxifermin for MASH and compensated cirrhosis, with overlapping advanced liver disease indications similar to Yaqrit's cirrhosis and ACLF programs.
• Genfit: Genfit is a European biopharma that developed elafibranor (Iqirvo) for PBC, comparable in size, geography, and clinical-stage liver-disease focus to Yaqrit.
• 89bio: 89bio is developing pegozafermin for MASH, an FGF21 analog addressing similar advanced liver disease pathways. It shares the small-cap clinical-stage liver biotech profile with Yaqrit.
• Viking Therapeutics: Viking Therapeutics develops VK2809 and other candidates for NASH/MASH and broader metabolic liver disease, sharing the small-cap clinical-stage liver biotech profile with Yaqrit.

Broad incumbents

• Madrigal Pharmaceuticals: Madrigal developed resmetirom (Rezdiffra), the first FDA-approved MASH therapy. It is a broader liver-disease therapeutics incumbent advancing adjacent indications to Yaqrit's decompensated cirrhosis pipeline.
• Intercept Pharmaceuticals: Intercept pioneered obeticholic acid (Ocaliva) for PBC and advanced NASH candidates before its Alfasigma acquisition. It is a comparable liver-focused biopharma with similar regulatory and clinical development experience.
• Salix Pharmaceuticals: Salix markets rifaximin (Xifaxan), the current standard-of-care for hepatic encephalopathy recurrence. It is the established incumbent against which Yaqrit's YAQ006/YAQ007 ammonia scavengers will compete commercially.
• Mallinckrodt: Mallinckrodt commercializes terlipressin for hepatorenal syndrome, addressing another advanced liver disease complication. Its commercial-stage rare-disease liver franchise makes it a comparable scale player in the same therapeutic area.
• Gilead Sciences: Gilead acquired CymaBay (seladelpar for PBC) and operates a broader liver disease franchise. It is the kind of large biopharma that could plausibly acquire Yaqrit or partner for late-stage development of its assets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/yaqrit-ltd
• Xx.com/YaqritLtd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds7 records

Investors5 records

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Yaqrit