What Tay Therapeutics does

Tay Therapeutics is a clinical-stage, UK-based small-molecule drug discovery company headquartered in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded in 2020 as a spin-out from the University of Dundee (originally as In4Derm, later renamed) and operates with an 11-50 employee team developing oral and topical therapies for inflammatory and genetic conditions.

The company's pipeline rests on two proprietary technological platforms. The first is a BD2-selective BET inhibitor chemistry (TAY-B1/Repibresib and TAY-B2/VYN202), which underpins its primary economic relationship with VYNE Therapeutics; both candidates are in active clinical development (Phase 2b for vitiligo and Phase 1b, respectively). The second is the Tay-Enable read-through platform, designed to address nonsense-mutation genetic disorders, with TAY-R1 positioned as a first-in-class oral small-molecule gene therapy for recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB). IP is anchored by patent application WO2024194607 (published September 2024) and the February 2025 BET IP assignment from the University of Dundee.

Tay operates an asset-light, licensing-and-collaboration business model rather than building its own commercial salesforce. Revenue is generated primarily through the VYNE Therapeutics licensing agreement, which is reported to have produced over £6 million cumulatively. Non-dilutive funding includes a £350K Innovate UK grant (October 2023), and total funding raised exceeds £10 million across seed (November 2020) and follow-on rounds. A July 2025 spin-out, Hawkhill Therapeutics, was created to house a separately financed obesity program.

Name

Tay Therapeutics

Legal name

Tay Therapeutics Ltd

Website

https://taytherapeutics.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Tay Therapeutics is a University of Dundee spin-out (2020) developing small-molecule therapies for inflammatory and genetic diseases, with BD2-selective BET inhibitors licensed to VYNE Therapeutics and a proprietary read-through platform targeting RDEB.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Drug Discovery

NAICS

Medicinal and Botanical Manufacturing (325411), Medical Laboratories (621511)

SIC

Biological Products, (No Disgnostic Substances) (2836), Pharmaceutical Preparations (2834)

akta.pro primary industry

Monoclonal Antibody Therapeutics (mAbs) (HLAAAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

mRNA Therapeutics (vaccines, protein replacement, immuno-oncology) (HLAAADAA)

Keywords

• Drug discovery services
• Small molecule therapeutics
• BET inhibitors
• Rare genetic diseases
• Biotech licensing

Headquarters

HQ city

Dundee

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Licensing and Milestone Payments: Revenue generated through option and license agreements with pharmaceutical partners. Tay has secured over £6 million in research funding, option fees, upfront payments, and development milestones from the VYNE partnership. The TAY-B1 license was exercised in August 2021 and TAY-B2 license in April 2023.
2. Non-Dilutive Grant Funding: Awarded £0.35 million grant from Innovate UK to support development of Readthrough compounds through in vitro and in vivo proof-of-concept studies for genetic diseases caused by premature stop codons.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Tay Therapeutics is a clinical-stage drug discovery company that develops next-generation topical and oral small molecule therapies for inflammatory and rare genetic diseases using its proprietary Tay-Enable™ read-through platform. It advances candidates through proof-of-concept and licenses them to pharmaceutical partners (notably VYNE Therapeutics for its BET inhibitor programs) in exchange for upfront, milestone, and royalty payments.

Product overview

Tay Therapeutics is a UK-based biotech company developing targeted small molecule therapies through its proprietary Tay-Enable™ platform and pipeline of drug candidates. The company's portfolio includes three core products: TAY-R1 (first-in-class oral gene therapy for RDEB), TAY-B1/Repibresib (topical BET inhibitor for vitiligo), and TAY-B2/VYN202 (oral BD2-selective BET inhibitor for systemic inflammatory diseases). TAY-B1 and TAY-B2 have been licensed to VYNE Therapeutics and are advancing through clinical trials. The company has also launched Hawkhill Therapeutics as a spin-out focused on obesity and metabolic health therapies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• TAY-R1 (Tay-Enable™) First-in-class, orally bioavailable small molecule designed to treat Recessive Dystrophic Epidermolysis Bullosa (RDEB) by promoting read-through of premature stop codons in COL7A1 to restore production of full-length collagen VII. Targeted at biopharma licensing partners.
• TAY-B1 (Repibresib / VYN201) First-in-class, locally active soft-drug pan-BET bromodomain inhibitor (BRD2, BRD3, BRD4, BRDT) designed for topical application with minimized systemic exposure. Licensed to VYNE Therapeutics for dermatological indications including vitiligo, where it is in Phase 2b clinical development.
• TAY-B2 (VYN202) Next-generation, orally bioavailable BET inhibitor with high selectivity for bromodomain 2 (BD2), designed for systemic inflammatory and fibrotic diseases and demonstrating picomolar efficacy against key inflammatory cytokines. Licensed to VYNE Therapeutics and advanced to Phase 1b clinical trials.
• Tay-Enable™ Platform Proprietary drug discovery platform that generates orally bioavailable, non-aminoglycoside small molecules which promote read-through of all three types of premature stop codons (UAG, UGA, UAA), restoring full-length functional proteins. Platform is applicable to hundreds of genetic conditions caused by nonsense mutations.
• Hawkhill Therapeutics Ltd (spin-out) Wholly-owned spin-out of Tay Therapeutics developing first-in-class, oral, muscle-sparing obesity and metabolic-health therapies.

Quantifiable outcome

• 30% of RDEB patients could benefit from read-through therapy (nonsense mutation carriers)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• University of DundeecoreTechnology or Integration · 24 February 2025Strategic IP assignment secured February 2025 for Topical BET Project intellectual property rights. This milestone strengthens Tay's control over BET inhibitor assets and enhances flexibility for future licensing and partnerships. Tay was originally spun out from University of Dundee.
• VYNE TherapeuticscoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing Partner · 1 April 2021Option and License Agreement signed April 2021. TAY-B1 (Repibresib/VYN201) licensed August 2021 for topical formulation development in vitiligo, progressed to Phase 2b trial. TAY-B2 (VYN202) licensed April 2023 for oral BD2-selective BET inhibitor in systemic inflammatory diseases, progressed to Phase 1b trial. Tay has secured over £6 million through this partnership in research funding, option fees, upfront payments, and milestones.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• VYNE Therapeutics: NASDAQ-listed biotech that licensed TAY-B1 and TAY-B2 from Tay; developing BET inhibitors (VYN201, VYN202) in vitiligo and inflammatory diseases, directly comparable in modality and indication focus.
• PTC Therapeutics: Commercial-stage biotech with Translarna (ataluren), an oral read-through therapy for nonsense-mutation Duchenne muscular dystrophy; the most directly comparable competitor in Tay-Enable's mechanism of action and target patient population.
• Eloxx Pharmaceuticals: Developed small-molecule read-through agents (ELX-02) for nonsense-mutation genetic diseases; competing head-to-head with Tay-Enable in the same therapeutic hypothesis, providing a useful clinical proof-of-concept benchmark.
• ProQR Therapeutics: Clinical-stage RNA therapeutics company targeting rare genetic diseases including RDEB and epidermolysis bullosa; overlapping patient population with Tay's Tay-Enable platform, though using antisense oligonucleotides rather than small molecules.
• Foghorn Therapeutics: Clinical-stage biotech developing medicines targeting chromatin biology, including selective BET inhibitors; directly comparable in BET modality and soft-drug/selective design philosophy.
• Constellation Pharmaceuticals: Developed pelabresib (CPI-0610), a BET bromodomain inhibitor for myelofibrosis and other diseases; acquired by MorphoSys in 2021, a benchmark for BET asset M&A valuations and licensing comparables.
• Zenith Epigenetics: Subsidiary of Resverlogix developing BD2-selective BET inhibitors for oncology and inflammatory diseases; directly comparable in BD2-selectivity design approach versus Tay's TAY-B2/VYN202.

Broad incumbents

• BridgeBio Pharma: Late-stage genetic disease biotech with multiple pipeline programs targeting rare monogenic conditions; comparable in genetic-disease focus and licensing/out-licensing model, though larger and more diversified.
• AbbVie: Large pharma with a commercial BET franchise (e.g., Navitoclax-adjacent programs) and broad inflammation pipeline; represents potential acquirer/partner for BET assets and benchmark for development timelines.
• MorphoSys: Biopharma that acquired Constellation Pharmaceuticals in 2021 for BET inhibitor pelabresib; a comparable established player in the BET space with the resources to in-license programs similar to Tay's.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/taytx/about

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors5 records

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M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about Tay Therapeutics