What Alkahest does

Alkahest is a research and drug discovery company, wholly owned by Grifols, developing therapeutics derived from plasma to treat age-related neurological and inflammatory diseases. Its pipeline comprises AKST4290 (Phase 1, in WetAMD, Parkinson's Disease, and Inflammatory Disease), AKST/GRF6019/6021 (Phase 1, in Alzheimer's Disease — both mild-to-moderate and severe — Parkinson's Disease with Cognitive Impairment, and Postoperative Recovery), and AKST1210 (IND-enabling, targeting Beta-2-Microglobulin in End Stage Renal Disease-related cognitive impairment). The company also runs the Chronos-PD longitudinal Parkinson's study in partnership with the Michael J. Fox Foundation, analyzing thousands of pre-diagnosis plasma samples over up to 10 years.

The company's core technology is an AI-driven integrative analysis platform that combines advanced proteomics with multiomics and real-world health data to identify early disease biomarkers years before clinical symptoms appear. Its principal technical differentiator is access to Grifols' repository of more than 100 million plasma samples collected over nearly 15 years, representing thousands of disease states. The science rests on the premise that approximately 20% of plasma proteins experience substantial changes with aging or illness, and that pre-diagnosis longitudinal samples overcome the limitations of post-diagnosis clinical cohorts.

Alkahest is pre-revenue, operating as a Grifols R&D subsidiary rather than an independent commercial entity. Funding has come through a $3.5M round in 2014, a $37.5M Grifols investment in 2015, and a Michael J. Fox Foundation grant in 2018 — no external institutional capital or licensing revenue is disclosed. Headcount of 51–100 is concentrated in San Carlos, California, with a leadership team drawn from Stanford neurology, Genentech, Chiron, BCG, SAP, and Duke. The intended go-to-market path is regulatory approval of pipeline assets followed by commercialization through Grifols' global plasma medicines channels or potential licensing to larger pharmaceutical partners; near-term customer-facing activity is limited to scientific publications, foundation collaborations (MJFF), and academic partnerships (Stanford).

Name

Alkahest

Legal name

Alkahest, Inc.

Website

https://alkahest.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Alkahest, a wholly-owned Grifols subsidiary, develops plasma-derived therapeutics for age-related neurological and inflammatory diseases including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Wet AMD, and renal-disease-related cognitive impairment. It leverages access to over 100 million Grifols plasma samples and AI-driven multiomics analysis to discover early disease biomarkers and disease-modifying drug candidates.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Biopharmaceutical Drug Discovery

NAICS

Biological Product (except Diagnostic) Manufacturing (325414), Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (54171)

SIC

Biological Products, (No Disgnostic Substances) (2836), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Pharmaceutical Preparations (2834)

akta.pro primary industry

Plasma-Derived Therapeutics (immunoglobulins, albumin, clotting factors) (HLAAAAAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

AI/ML-Enabled Biologic Discovery Platforms (computational design, in silico screening) (HLAAAIAE), SaMD – Digital Biomarkers & Algorithmic Endpoints (HLACANAF)

Keywords

• Plasma proteomics research
• Neurodegenerative drug discovery
• Age-related therapeutics
• Biopharmaceutical R&D
• Biomarker identification

Headquarters

HQ city

San Carlos

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Therapeutic Development: Pre-revenue biotech company developing plasma-based therapies for age-related diseases including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, wet AMD, and inflammatory diseases. Revenue will come from drug commercialization upon regulatory approval.

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Alkahest is a research and drug discovery company that develops therapeutic candidates derived from plasma proteome science to treat age-related neurological and inflammatory diseases, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Wet AMD, and end-stage renal disease-related cognitive impairment. The company leverages AI-driven integrative analysis of multiomics and real-world data, combined with access to Grifols' repository of more than 100 million plasma samples, to identify disease biomarkers and advance disease-modifying drug candidates through preclinical and clinical development.

Product overview

Alkahest is a research and drug discovery company developing a pipeline of therapeutic candidates based on plasma proteome science. The portfolio includes AKST4290 (Phase 1, targeting WetAMD, Parkinson's Disease, Inflammatory Disease), AKST/GRF6019/6021 (Phase 1, targeting Alzheimer's Disease and Parkinson's Disease with Cognitive Impairment), and AKST1210 (IND Enabling, targeting End Stage Renal Disease related Cognitive Impairment). The company also operates the Chronos-PD research program in partnership with the Michael J. Fox Foundation, focused on early biomarker discovery for Parkinson's Disease.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• AKST4290 Therapeutic candidate in the pipeline targeting WetAMD (wet age-related macular degeneration), Parkinson's Disease (in partnership with Michael J. Fox Foundation), and Inflammatory Disease; currently in Phase 1 clinical stage for each indication.
• AKST/GRF6019/6021 Therapeutic candidate targeting Alzheimer's Disease (mild to moderate and severe), Parkinson's Disease with Cognitive Impairment, and Postoperative Recovery; currently in Phase 1 clinical stage.
• AKST1210 (targeting Beta-2-Microglobulin) Therapeutic candidate targeting End Stage Renal Disease related Cognitive Impairment via Beta-2-Microglobulin; currently in IND Enabling stage.
• Novel Factors Earlier-stage, undisclosed plasma proteome-derived therapeutic program in the research phase; indications are not publicly disclosed.

Quantifiable outcome

• 20% of plasma proteins experience substantial changes with aging or illness
• +1 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability3 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• GrifolsflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerGrifols is the parent company of Alkahest, providing access to its extensive repository of more than 100 million plasma samples collected for nearly 15 years. Grifols, a global leader in plasma medicines, enables Alkahest's research through its plasma protein expertise and resources.
• Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (MJFF)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMJFF provides grant support for Chronos-PD, Alkahest's longitudinal study examining thousands of plasma samples to identify earliest biological signals of Parkinson's disease years before symptoms appear.
• Stanford UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTony Wyss-Coray, Co-Director of the Stanford Alzheimer's Disease Research Center and D.H. Chen Distinguished Professor of Neurology at Stanford, serves on Alkahest's Board of Directors. His lab's research on brain aging and blood factors that can rejuvenate old brains underpins Alkahest's scientific approach.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• CSL Behring: CSL Behring is a global leader in plasma-derived therapies (immunoglobulins, coagulation factors, albumin) and operates in the plasma therapeutics space similar to Alkahest's parent company Grifols. Both companies leverage plasma expertise to develop therapies, though CSL is a much larger incumbent with established commercial products.
• Octapharma: Octapharma is one of the world's largest privately-held plasma fractionators, producing therapies derived from human plasma. Like Grifols/Alkahest, Octapharma leverages plasma protein expertise to develop therapeutics, though it operates as a much larger established player with commercial products.
• Biogen: Biogen is a leading global biotech with a major focus on Alzheimer's disease (Leqembi with Eisai) and other neurological conditions. As a broad incumbent, Biogen operates across multiple therapeutic areas but directly competes in the CNS space where Alkahest is developing disease-modifying therapies.
• Takeda Pharmaceutical: Takeda (following its Shire acquisition) is a major player in plasma-derived therapies for rare diseases. While Takeda operates broadly across therapeutic areas, its plasma-derived therapy franchise overlaps directly with the therapeutic modality Alkahest is pursuing.

Direct peers

• Alector: Alector is a clinical-stage biotech developing immuno-neurology therapeutics for Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and frontotemporal dementia. Both companies are developing biologics targeting neurodegenerative disease pathways with similar Phase 1/2 stage pipelines and partnerships with major pharma.
• Denali Therapeutics: Denali Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotech developing therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases (Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, ALS) using biologic and small molecule approaches. Both companies target age-related neurological diseases with disease-modifying therapeutics, though Denali focuses on genetically validated targets while Alkahest leverages plasma proteomics.

Others

• Bio-Techne: Bio-Techne provides proteomics research tools and reagents (including the ProteinSimple brand) used by researchers studying plasma proteomics and biomarker discovery. As an enabler of proteomics research, Bio-Techne is thematically related to Alkahest's proteomics-based drug discovery platform.
• Olink Holding: Olink is a leading provider of proteomics platforms (Proximity Extension Assay technology) enabling high-throughput protein biomarker discovery. As a key proteomics platform provider, Olink's technology is potentially used by or complementary to Alkahest's proteomics-based drug discovery approach.

Emerging players

• Recursion Pharmaceuticals: Recursion is a clinical-stage AI-driven drug discovery company using machine learning and high-throughput biology to identify novel therapeutics. Both companies leverage AI/ML combined with large proprietary datasets for drug discovery, though Recursion focuses on phenotypic screening while Alkahest focuses on plasma proteomics.
• Cortexyme: Cortexyme is a clinical-stage biotech developing therapeutics targeting bacterial pathogens (P. gingivalis) implicated in Alzheimer's disease. Both companies are emerging players targeting Alzheimer's with novel mechanism approaches, though Cortexyme focuses on small molecule gingipain inhibitors while Alkahest uses plasma-derived approaches.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses1 record

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/AlkahestInc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors2 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 Alkahest