What Cortalix does

Cortalix BV is a privately held Dutch biotechnology company headquartered at the MediTech Center in Groningen, founded in July 2023 to commercialize VHH (single-domain antibody / nanobody) discovery and engineering for radiopharmaceutical, cell-therapy, and diagnostic applications. The company's core offering is a dual VHH discovery platform that combines animal-free synthetic libraries (up to 10^14 functional diversity via ribosomal display) with immune libraries generated from llama immunizations and screened by phage display, feeding three proprietary engineering platforms: MultiDome™ (multivalent/multispecific constructs), AlbuFlex™ (albumin-binding half-life extension), and CARVex™ (CAR-T targeting domains with controlled tonic signaling).

Cortalix generates revenue through a mix of fee-for-service VHH discovery and development projects, licensing of proprietary VHH sequences and library IP, collaborative development programs with academic and pharma partners, and public/innovation grants plus venture investment. Its target customer segments are pharmaceutical and biotech companies developing targeted cancer therapies and radiopharmaceuticals, diagnostic firms building next-generation immunoassays (ELISA, lateral flow), academic and translational research institutions, and cell-therapy developers seeking compact, stable binding domains for next-generation CAR constructs. Internal pipeline assets include CTX001 (PDGFRB-binding VHH for 68-Ga PET imaging and 177-Lu radiotherapy) and CTX004 (PDGFRA-targeting next-generation candidate), both inherited or derived from BiOrion assets acquired in March 2023.

The company operates with a team of approximately five professionals, including CEO Herman Steen (PhD; former BiOrion CEO), CBO Ronald Vos, VP Discovery Amanda van Tilburg (PhD), VP Product Development Joost Caumanns (PhD), and Head of Protein Production Michael Runda (PhD). Go-to-market is enterprise-direct, driven by the CEO and CBO through industry partnering events (CPHI Worldwide, Nordic Life Science Days, Antibody Industrial Symposium, Festival of Biologics, PepTalk, Targeted Radiopharmaceuticals Summit), with ecosystem positioning through LIFE Cooperative and HollandBIO memberships and grant capture across SNN, Eurostars, EFRO, and Health~Holland programs. Cortalix closed a €1 million seed round in March 2025 (Future Tech Ventures lead, Rabobank Innovation Loan participation) and is advancing planned Phase 2 clinical PET-imaging studies in HFpEF and IPF with a US major-pharma consortium.

Name

Cortalix

Legal name

Cortalix BV

Website

https://cortalix.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Cortalix is a Dutch biotech that discovers and engineers VHH nanobodies via synthetic and immune libraries for radiopharmaceutical, CAR-T, and diagnostic applications. It serves pharma, biotech, diagnostic firms, and academic collaborators through fee-for-service projects, licensing, and joint development programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Antibody Discovery Services

NAICS

Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Biological Product (except Diagnostic) Manufacturing (325414), In-Vitro Diagnostic Substance Manufacturing (325413)

SIC

In Vitro & In Vivo Diagnostic Substances (2835), Biological Products, (No Disgnostic Substances) (2836), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Antibody Discovery & Engineering Platforms (display tech, bispecifics, Fc engineering) (HLAAAIAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Bispecific & Multispecific Antibodies (HLAAAAAF), CAR-T & TCR-T Therapies (HLAAABAC), Companion Diagnostics (CDx) & Therapy Selection Assays (HLAAALAF)

Keywords

• VHH nanobody discovery
• Single-domain antibody engineering
• Radiopharmaceutical imaging agents
• CAR-T cell therapy development
• Diagnostic immunoassay services

Headquarters

HQ city

Groningen

HQ country

Netherlands

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. Fee-for-Service VHH Development: Cortalix provides fee-for-service VHH antibody discovery and development projects. Clients engage the company for specific services ranging from library screening and binder selection to engineering, expression, and conjugation. Services are modular, allowing clients to engage from early discovery through to downstream formatting.
2. Collaborative Development Programs: Joint development arrangements with pharmaceutical companies, academic institutions, and biotech partners. Projects may be structured as public-private research collaborations (e.g., with UMCG, consortium partners) where costs and outcomes are shared. Cortalix retains ownership of delivered VHH sequences in most cases.
3. VHH Licensing: Where proprietary synthetic libraries with patented framework elements are used, Cortalix grants non-exclusive or exclusive licenses for worldwide commercial use of VHH sequences, spacers, and linkers. This provides recurring or milestone-based revenue potential.
4. Investment and Grants: Cortalix receives investment from venture capital (Future Tech Ventures) and innovation loans (Rabobank), supplemented by public grants (SNN, Eurostars) to fund platform development and clinical programs.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Cortalix discovers and engineers VHH (nanobody) antibodies for clients and for its internal pipeline, using a dual platform that combines an animal-free synthetic ribosomal-display library (functional diversity up to 10^14) with a llama immune library screened by phage display. Outputs include ready-to-use binders, multivalent/multispecific constructs (MultiDome™), half-life-extended variants (AlbuFlex™), and CAR-T targeting domains (CARVex™), together with conjugation, humanization, and scale-up services for radiopharmaceutical, diagnostic, and cell-therapy applications.

Product overview

Cortalix is a VHH nanobody biotechnology company offering a comprehensive product portfolio built around its dual discovery platform combining synthetic and immune VHH antibody libraries. The core VHH Discovery Platform feeds into specialized engineering platforms: MultiDome™ for multivalent/multispecific constructs, AlbuFlex™ for albumin-binding half-life extension, and CARVex™ for CAR-T targeting. The company provides service offerings including VHH-based ELISA and Lateral Flow Assay development, along with full antibody development services from discovery through engineering and scale-up. Internal pipeline candidates include CTX001 (PDGFRB-targeting PET imaging and radiotherapy candidate) and CTX004 (PDGFRA-targeting next-generation candidate), while the discontinued BOT5035 (Thorascan®) peptide program served as a blueprint for current nanobody-based tracers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CARVex™: Optimized VHH constructs for next-generation CAR T therapies. Platform leveraging unique properties of VHH antibodies to design optimized constructs for Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T cells.
• AlbuFlex™
• MultiDome™
• Thorascan®

Products and services

• VHH Discovery Platform Dual-platform VHH antibody discovery service combining a synthetic ribosomal-display library with a llama immune library screened by phage display, used by clients developing diagnostics, therapeutics, imaging agents, or analytical research tools.
• MultiDome™ Platform Proprietary platform for designing multivalent and multispecific VHH antibody constructs by linking two, three, or more VHHs with carefully selected linkers, yielding highly soluble and stable bispecific, trispecific, multi-epitope, and valency-tuned formats.
• AlbuFlex™ Platform Proprietary albumin-binding VHH antibody platform exploiting serum albumin binding (~20-day half-life) to enable tunable pharmacokinetics, biodistribution modulation, and reduced dosing frequency for therapeutic VHH constructs.
• CARVex™ Platform Proprietary platform for designing VHH-based targeting constructs for next-generation CAR-T cell therapies, featuring PCP optimization to minimize T-cell exhaustion and supporting mono- and bispecific NanoCAR designs with superior biophysical properties versus scFv-based CARs.
• VHH Antibody Development Services Comprehensive fee-for-service VHH antibody development services covering discovery, selection, clone identification, downstream engineering (CDR grafting, humanization, affinity maturation), expression, scale-up, and optional diagnostic assay integration.
• VHH ELISA Development Services VHH-based ELISA development services including matched-pair identification, engineering flexibility for tags or enzymes, and assay-compatibility assessment for next-generation diagnostic immunoassays.
• Lateral Flow Assay (LFA) Development Services VHH antibody-based lateral flow assay development services providing high-affinity binders, assay architecture collaboration, conjugation chemistry optimization, and feasibility testing for point-of-care diagnostics.
• CTX001 (PDGFRB-binding VHH) Lead PDGFRB (CD140b)-binding VHH bispecific candidate (with a second non-disclosed VHH) developed for 68-Ga PET imaging and 177-Lu targeted radiotherapy, initially targeted at idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and metastatic colorectal cancer, optimized with NOTA (68-Ga) and DOTA (177-Lu) chelators.
• CTX004 (PDGFRA-binding VHH) Next-generation diagnostic imaging and radiotherapy VHH candidate targeting PDGFRA with a second undisclosed nanobody specificity for enhanced diagnostic value and clinical selectivity, tailored for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Quantifiable outcome

• 68-Ga-BOT5035 PET imaging showed clear uptake in cardiac regions within 60 minutes in patients with history of heart disease, while no uptake was observed in patients without heart disease history
• +2 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability1 record

Feature7 records

Partnerships

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

• University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 July 2025Public-private research collaboration with UMCG Department of Hematology to co-develop a next-generation CAR-T cell therapy platform using Cortalix's proprietary bispecific VHH nanobody technology. Project led by Prof. Dr. Edwin Bremer and supported through PPP Innovation Program of Health~Holland. Focus on AI-Guided nano-CAR Library development. Cortalix provides VHH library design and immunotherapy expertise; UMCG provides Point-of-Care CAR-T manufacturing and clinical expertise.
• Portal BiotechmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 May 2025EFRO-funded research collaboration. Portal Biotech leads development of a nanopore sensing device for real-time, label-free molecular detection. Cortalix develops a synthetic VHH nanobody library specifically tailored for nanopore-based assays as highly specific recognition elements.
• GECCO BiotechsupportingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 May 2025EFRO-funded research collaboration partner contributing to microbial production and scale-up of biological components for the portable nanobody-based diagnostic platform.
• University of Groningen (RUG)supportingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 May 2025Academic partner in EFRO-funded research collaboration providing complementary expertise in molecular recognition and nanopore analytics, strengthening the scientific foundation of the portable diagnostic platform.
• Consortium of US Major Pharmaceutical CompaniesmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 March 2025Cortium of US pharmaceutical companies collaborating on phase 2 PET-imaging study in heart failure patients with HFpEF and a third phase 2 study in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) patients. Also collaborating on 2nd generation fibrogenesis PET imaging diagnostic in patients with early-stage NASH/liver fibrosis.
• Eurostars Consortium (PET Center Akademiska Sjukhuset Uppsala, Immunitrack ApS Copenhagen, Xenopat SL Barcelona)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 June 2023Eurostars grant consortium of EUR 1.7 million for colorectal cancer molecular PET-imaging. Cortalix contributes PDGF-beta receptor-binding single-domain antibody targeting for clinical development of targeted imaging diagnostics and therapies against fibrotic stroma of solid cancers. Consortium partners include PET Center Akademiska Sjukhuset in Uppsala, Immunitrack ApS in Copenhagen, and Xenopat SL in Barcelona.
• BiOrioncoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing Partner · 15 March 2023Cortalix acquired patents and know-how from BiOrion on its single domain antibody platform and fibrogenesis biomarker radiopharmaceuticals (including BOT5035/Thorascan), enabling Cortalix to continue work on 2 active clinical programs around PET imaging of fibrogenesis.
• LIFE CooperativesupportingOthersCortalix is a member of LIFE Cooperative, a regional life sciences cooperative based in Groningen. Provides access to the regional biotech ecosystem, networking, and collaborative opportunities within the Northern Netherlands life sciences community.
• HollandBIOsupportingOthersCortalix is a member of HollandBIO, the national biotech industry association representing Dutch biotech companies and providing industry advocacy and networking.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• Argenx: Argenx is the leading commercial-stage nanobody (VHH) biotechnology company, with approved products (e.g., VYVGART) and a deep pipeline built on its Innovative Immunology Program. It is the most directly comparable VHH platform business and the dominant scaled player in Cortalix's core technology category.
• Harbour BioMed: Harbour BioMed operates a heavy-chain antibody (HCAb) platform closely analogous to VHH, offering transgenic mouse-based and synthetic discovery plus therapeutic development. It is a directly comparable nanobody-class discovery and engineering business with both partnership and internal pipeline models.
• Molecular Partners: Molecular Partners develops DARPin-based therapeutics, an alternative small-binding-scaffold platform with a comparable business model (platform + partnered/internal pipeline). It offers a useful benchmark for a non-IgG scaffold biotech pursuing multispecific and radiotherapeutic-style constructs.
• Philogen: Philogen develops antibody-based targeted radiopharmaceuticals and immunocytokines for oncology and inflammatory disease. Its combination of antibody-based targeting with radioisotope payloads is highly comparable to Cortalix's CTX001 (68-Ga/177-Lu) strategy, making it a direct radiopharma peer.

Broad incumbents

• Sanofi (Ablynx): Sanofi acquired Ablynx in 2018 and now operates the original commercial nanobody franchise (including caplacizumab). As the pioneer and largest installed VHH player, Sanofi/Ablynx defines the competitive landscape for Cortalix in antibody discovery, licensing, and clinical translation.
• GenScript: GenScript is a large-scale contract research organization offering antibody discovery, protein production, and cell therapy services. It competes with Cortalix in the fee-for-service VHH/antibody discovery market and represents the scaled CRO benchmark for service-based revenue.
• RayzeBio (Bristol Myers Squibb): RayzeBio, now part of Bristol Myers Squibb, develops actinium-225-based radiopharmaceuticals for solid tumors. It represents the broader radiopharmaceutical platform landscape that validates strategic interest in targeted radionuclide therapy, a key end-application for Cortalix's pipeline.
• ImmunoPrecise Antibodies: ImmunoPrecise Antibodies is a contract research organization offering custom antibody discovery and development, including VHH/nanobody services through its subsidiary platforms. It competes for fee-for-service antibody development contracts and represents a broader CRO peer for Cortalix's service line.

Emerging players

• Creative Biolabs: Creative Biolabs offers VHH/nanobody discovery, engineering, and production services alongside broader antibody offerings. As a smaller and more specialized CRO, it directly competes for VHH service contracts in the same customer base Cortalix targets.
• Q-生物科学 (Q Biologicals): Q Biologicals is a Belgian VHH/nanobody-focused discovery and development company. As a similarly sized European VHH platform peer, it competes for partnerships and grants within the same EU biotech ecosystem as Cortalix.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors2 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 Cortalix