Isogenica
Isogenica is a Cambridge, UK-based CRO specializing in custom VHH single-domain antibody discovery using proprietary synthetic libraries and CIS Display™ technology, serving biotech and pharma clients on a fee-for-service basis.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2000
- HeadquartersCambridge, United Kingdom
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Isogenica does
Isogenica Limited is a Cambridge, UK-based biotechnology company founded in 2000 that specializes in custom VHH (variable domain of heavy chain) single-domain antibody discovery and engineering. The company operates a fee-for-service Contract Research Organization (CRO) model, delivering synthetic, animal-free VHH antibody candidates to biotech and pharmaceutical partners. Its core technology stack combines proprietary in vitro CIS Display™ (validated in peer-reviewed literature since 2004) with three synthetic VHH libraries — LlamdA® (~10^13 diversity), huLlamdA™ (~10^12), and VHHantage® (~10^10) — claimed to be the world's largest synthetic VHH libraries. Supporting modules include ISOXTEND® half-life extension, COLIBRA® codon-precision library construction, and C-terminal cysteine conjugation for ADCs.
The commercial offering spans VHH discovery services, affinity maturation, humanization, peptide discovery, and applications across bi-specifics, multi-specifics, CAR-T, ADCs, intrabodies, and radiopharmaceuticals. Discovery contracts follow a standard structure: a 4–6 week panning/screening phase delivering up to 100 antibody sequences, a 12-month evaluation window for up to five selected antibodies, and an exclusive license to commercialize. The model is explicitly fee-for-service with no milestones, royalties, or success fees on the standard engagement, with optional rolling FTE arrangements.
The customer base spans large pharma (AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Takeda, BioNTech), clinical-stage biotech (Arvinas, Harpoon, Aro, Cerberus Therapeutics, Wellmarker Bio), and government/academic institutions (Frederick National Laboratory, Oncode Institute). Isogenica has delivered over 100 programs and reports 3 clinical-stage assets and 9 partnered preclinical assets in its pipeline. The company has built a Discovery Network integrating Charles River Laboratories, Axxam, and Cube Biotech to extend its offering from hit identification through GLP preclinical development. Revenue is not publicly disclosed and no major institutional funding round beyond a 2012 Innovate UK grant is recorded in the source data.
Isogenica firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Isogenica
- Legal name
- Isogenica Limited
- Website
- https://isogenica.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2000
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Isogenica is a Cambridge, UK-based CRO specializing in custom VHH single-domain antibody discovery using proprietary synthetic libraries and CIS Display™ technology, serving biotech and pharma clients on a fee-for-service basis.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Isogenica industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Antibody Discovery CRO Services
- NAICS
- Scientific Research and Development Services (5417), Medical Laboratories (621511)
- SIC
- Services-Medical Laboratories (8071)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Antibody Discovery & Engineering Platforms (display tech, bispecifics, Fc engineering) (HLAAAIAB)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Library & Diversity Generation Platforms (display libraries, DNA-encoded libraries for biologics, variant libraries) (HLAAAIAL)
Keywords
Where Isogenica is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Cambridge
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices2 records
Markets served
Isogenica business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Fee-for-Service Discovery Contracts: Custom VHH antibody discovery services delivered under fee-for-service contracts. Following screening phase (4-6 weeks), up to 100 deliverable antibody sequences are shared for evaluation. Up to five Selected Antibodies may be identified for further development. Commercial model is straightforward: Fee-for-Service with no milestones, royalties, or success fees.
- Rolling FTE Model: Flexible staffing model where clients can engage Isogenica scientists on a time-and-materials basis for ongoing discovery programs.
- Licensing Revenue: Exclusive license to five Selected Antibodies grants full rights to develop, optimize, patent, publish, and commercialize each candidate. Antibodies are digitally withdrawn from library and not shared or licensed to any other party.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Panning & Screening Phase |
| Other | Multi-year contract | Characterisation & Evaluation |
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | Final Deliverables & Licensing |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels6 records
Isogenica product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Isogenica provides custom VHH (Variable Domain of Heavy Chain) single-domain antibody discovery services powered by the world's largest proprietary synthetic libraries (LlamdA®, huLlamdA™, VHHantage®) and CIS Display™ in vitro selection technology. The service spans antibody discovery campaigns, affinity maturation, humanisation, half-life extension (ISOXTEND®), ADC conjugation handles, and licensing of selected antibodies for therapeutic development, complemented by custom peptide discovery on the same CIS Display platform.
Product overview
Isogenica (The VHH Company™) is a UK-based antibody discovery company offering a platform of synthetic VHH (variable domain of heavy chain) antibody technologies. The core offering centers on three proprietary synthetic VHH libraries—LlamdA® (~10^13), huLlamdA™ (~10^12), and VHHantage® (~10^10)—combined with CIS Display™ and phage display technologies for antibody and peptide discovery. Discovery services are augmented by engineering modules including VHH Affinity Maturation and Humanisation, half-life extension via ISOXTEND®, and C-terminal cysteine conjugation for ADC development. Applications span bi-specific and multi-specific antibodies, CAR-T cell therapy, antibody-drug conjugates, intrabodies, and radiopharmaceuticals. The company operates a Discovery Network integrating specialist CROs (Charles River, Axxam, Cube Biotech) for seamless hit-to-IND workflows.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- LlamdA®: Proprietary synthetic VHH library with over 10^13 diversity, based on llama-derived frameworks
- huLlamdA™
- VHHantage®
- CIS Display™
- ISOXTEND®
- COLIBRA®
Products and services
- VHH Antibody Discovery Services Custom fee-for-service VHH single-domain antibody discovery for biotech and pharmaceutical companies, including panning and screening (4-6 weeks), delivery of up to 100 antibody sequences, identification of up to five Selected Antibodies, and optional 12-month evaluation window before exclusive licensing.
- Synthetic VHH Libraries (LlamdA®, huLlamdA™, VHHantage®) Three proprietary synthetic VHH antibody libraries offering >10^13 (LlamdA®), ~10^12 (huLlamdA™ pre-humanized), and ~10^10 (VHHantage®) sequence diversity, used to deliver IP-clean, high-affinity single-domain antibodies without animal immunization.
- CIS Display™ Technology DNA-based in vitro display technology enabling selection of peptides and VHHs from extremely large libraries, licensed and used as a scalable discovery engine for biotech and pharma customers (e.g., Arvinas for PROTAC® platform expansion; Wellmarker Bio; AstraZeneca for peptide discovery against targets such as phospholamban).
- Phage Display Screening Service Phage display screening service complementing CIS Display for antibody and peptide discovery campaigns across diverse target classes.
- ISOXTEND® Half-Life Extension Technology Half-life extension technology using cross-species serum albumin binders, validated in vivo with up to 26-hour half-life in mouse (16–19 days in humans), applicable to mono-, bi- and multi-specific antibodies.
- VHH Affinity Maturation and Engineering Affinity maturation and engineering service to optimize VHH leads for potency, developability, and integration into multi-specifics, ADCs, and targeted lipid nanoparticles.
- VHH Humanisation Service VHH humanization service using rational humanisation or CDR grafting, supported by pre-humanized huLlamdA™ and VHHantage® libraries that reduce immunogenicity risk and downstream engineering effort.
- Custom Peptide Discovery Service Custom peptide discovery using CIS Display technology with 8× off-the-shelf libraries (linear or constrained formats, 8–16 variable positions, beta turns available), used for research collaborations with pharma partners including AstraZeneca.
Quantifiable outcome
- 100+ programmes delivered with multiple leads progressed to clinic
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Isogenica
Customer profileNamed customers8 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Isogenica technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration5 records
Feature7 records
Isogenica partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and minor.
- Cerberus TherapeuticsmajorAntibody discovery agreement to support development of targeted immune-modulating therapies using single-domain antibodies. VHHs identified through the program integrate into Cerberus's KappaLink™ platform for engaging Fc receptor-positive effector cells.
- Charles River LaboratoriescoreCollaboration to accelerate peptide and VHH discovery, uniting Isogenica's synthetic discovery platforms with Charles River's drug discovery and development expertise. Together they offer integrated route from hit identification to candidate selection and GLP preclinical development, streamlining the path to clinic for biotech companies.
- Cube BiotechcoreStrategic collaboration to accelerate GPCR therapeutics by combining Cube Biotech's advanced GPCR stabilization technology (NativeMP™) with Isogenica's synthetic VHH libraries and CIS Display technology. Provides seamless solution for GPCR-targeted therapeutics including GLP-1R and other complex transmembrane proteins.
- Axxam S.p.A.corePartnership bringing together functional bioassay capabilities with unique VHH antibody discovery solutions. Combines Isogenica's VHH expertise with Axxam's high-throughput screening and functional assay capabilities for ADC and other functional antibody discovery programs.
- Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research (FNLCR)majorMulti-project contract developing molecules for clinical laboratory assays to measure biomarkers correlated with molecular effectiveness of cancer immuno-oncology agents. Relationship has expanded with two additional projects added to the contractual relationship.
- Wellmarker Bio (WMBIO)majorMoU for collaboration in research and development of antibody-based cancer immunotherapy, Protein-Protein Interaction (PPI) Inhibitors, biomarkers and peptide libraries. Joint funding including UK or other government grants to create portfolio of preclinical programs.
- ArvinasmajorTechnology license agreement where Arvinas leverages Isogenica's CIS Display technology to support advancing and expanding its PROTAC® platform for targeted protein degradation therapeutics in oncology and neuroscience.
- TakedamajorLicensing agreement using Isogenica's VHH single-domain antibody libraries for discovery, development and commercialisation of therapeutic products.
- ArominorCollaboration using CIS display to identify and characterize novel Centyrins™ against target antigens provided by Aro.
- Oncode Institute (University Medical Center Utrecht)majorPartnership for development of anti-LRP6 VHH inhibitors targeting Wnt signaling pathway in cancer therapy. Research led to Nature Communications publication demonstrating potent Wnt pathway inhibition and tumor growth reduction.
- PhenotypecaminorInnovate UK-supported collaboration demonstrating effective VHH expression from Baker's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) systems. Project achieved 10-20-fold increase in fully active VHH product using Phenotypeca's QTL Technology.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Isogenica competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Adimab: Leading yeast-display-based antibody discovery CRO serving pharma and biotech with custom monoclonal antibody programs. Comparable as a fee-for-service antibody discovery partner with proprietary display technology, though Adimab focuses on conventional scFv/Fab rather than VHH.
- Twist Bioscience: Synthetic biology company offering synthetic antibody libraries (including VHH and single-domain formats) via Twist Biopharma. Direct competitor in the synthetic VHH library space, leveraging DNA synthesis at scale as the source of library diversity rather than CIS Display.
- Argenx: Global VHH/nanobody platform company that originated from the VHH space Isogenica serves. Both develop single-domain antibody therapeutics using llama-derived frameworks, but Argenx operates its own commercial pipeline (efgartigimod/Vyvgart) rather than pure CRO services.
- Crescendo Biologics: Cambridge, UK-based developer of T cell-engaging VHH (Humabody) therapeutics. Closest pure-play peer in geography and modality, focused on VHH discovery and internal pipeline development for immuno-oncology, with overlapping target space in oncology and T-cell engagers.
Broad incumbents
- Ablynx (Sanofi): Pioneer in VHH/nanobody therapeutics, now part of Sanofi following 2018 acquisition. Ablynx's caplacizumab (Cablivi) was the first approved VHH, validating the modality Isogenica serves. Comparable as a VHH platform but operates at vastly larger scale inside Sanofi.
- WuXi Biologics: Global biologics CRO/CDMO offering antibody discovery, development, and manufacturing services at massive scale. Competes with Isogenica for outsourced antibody discovery work, particularly from pharma clients, but with end-to-end capabilities extending to GMP manufacturing.
- AbCellera Biologics: Public antibody discovery platform combining single-cell sequencing, display technologies, and AI. Provides CRO-style antibody discovery to pharma, similar to Isogenica, but with a much broader technology stack (mAbs, multi-specifics) and public-company scale.
- Charles River Laboratories: Global CRO with end-to-end drug discovery and development services including antibody discovery, preclinical, and manufacturing. Strategic partner of Isogenica and a competitor in adjacent discovery and IND-enabling services at much larger scale.
Emerging players
- Axxam: Italian functional screening and assay development CRO partnering with Isogenica. Comparable as a specialist CRO serving drug discovery, particularly for ion channels and GPCRs, with overlapping customer base in pharma/biotech.
- Cube Biotech: Specialist in membrane protein stabilization and nanodisc technology, partnered with Isogenica for GPCR antibody discovery. Comparable niche CRO with proprietary enabling technology (NativeMP) targeting the same difficult antigen class (GPCRs, transporters).
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Isogenica social profiles
Digital presenceIsogenica financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Isogenica leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
Isogenica funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Isogenica M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A1 record
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Isogenica
What does Isogenica do?
Isogenica provides custom VHH (Variable Domain of Heavy Chain) single-domain antibody discovery services powered by the world's largest proprietary synthetic libraries (LlamdA®, huLlamdA™, VHHantage®) and CIS Display™ in vitro selection technology. The service spans antibody discovery campaigns, affinity maturation, humanisation, half-life extension (ISOXTEND®), ADC conjugation handles, and licensing of selected antibodies for therapeutic development, complemented by custom peptide discovery on the same CIS Display platform.
Is Isogenica a public or private company?
Isogenica is a private company. It is classified as unknown and is currently operating.
When was Isogenica founded?
Isogenica was founded in 2000. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Isogenica based?
Isogenica is headquartered in Cambridge, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Isogenica make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Fee-for-Service Discovery Contracts are the primary driver. The others are rolling FTE Model and licensing Revenue.
Who are Isogenica's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Adimab, Twist Bioscience, Argenx and Crescendo Biologics. Broad incumbents are Ablynx (Sanofi), WuXi Biologics, AbCellera Biologics and Charles River Laboratories. Emerging players are Axxam and Cube Biotech.
Does Isogenica have an API?
No public API is recorded for Isogenica.
What industry is Isogenica in?
Isogenica's product category is Antibody Discovery CRO Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HLAAAIAB, Antibody Discovery & Engineering Platforms (display tech, bispecifics, Fc engineering), with a secondary code of HLAAAIAL, Library & Diversity Generation Platforms (display libraries, DNA-encoded libraries for biologics, variant libraries). Its NAICS code is 5417 and its SIC code is 8071.