BioSpace NextGen honorees made up one-third of the U.S. biotechs that have publicly debuted in 2026. Most are looking for biopharma professionals to join their teams.
Of the 14 U.S. biotechs that went public this year, five once landed on the BioSpace NextGen list of the most promising up-and-coming life sciences companies. Together, their initial public offerings raised about $1.5 billion, including exercises of underwriters’ options to purchase additional shares of stock.
Biopharma professionals looking for their next opportunities may want to check out these biotechs, especially given that four are hiring now. Below are snapshots of each business.
Kardigan
Launched in January, Kardigan is developing medicines that target the root cause of specific cardiovascular diseases where no approved treatments exist. The NextGen Class of 2026 winner raised $460 million with its initial public offering, including the full exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares of stock. Kardigan is based in South San Francisco, California, and Princeton, New Jersey.
The company’s pipeline consists of three late-stage clinical programs, of which danicamtiv is the furthest along. Kardigan’s direct myosin activator is being studied in a Phase 2b/3 clinical trial for the treatment of genetic dilated cardiomyopathy. The disease affects the heart’s lower and upper chambers, making it difficult for the muscle to pump blood.
Three former leaders of MyoKardia, a cardiology-based biotech Bristol Myers Squibb bought in 2020 for $13.1 billion, co-founded Kardigan. Tassos Gianakakos is now Kardigan’s CEO and chair, Jay Edelberg is its chief medical officer and Bob McDowell is its scientific adviser. While at MyoKardia, a NextGen Class of 2015 winner, the three led the development of mavacamten, the first FDA-approved cardiac myosin inhibitor that targets the source of obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
Kardigan has over 30 roles open, including associate director, insights and analytics; clinical trial manager; and associate director, regulatory strategy.
Seaport Therapeutics
Based in Boston, Seaport Therapeutics is developing medicines for the treatment of depression, anxiety and other neuropsychiatric disorders. The NextGen Class of 2025 winner uses a proprietary platform to advance drugs previously limited by high first-pass metabolism, low bioavailability and side effects. Seaport raised $260 million with its upsized initial public offering.
Launched in 2024, the company has a pipeline of three programs, including lead asset GlyphAllo (SPT-300) for the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD). The oral prodrug of allopregnanolone, a naturally occurring neurosteroid, is being studied in a Phase 2b trial in patients with MDD and a Phase 1 driving simulation trial in healthy volunteers. Topline data is expected in the second half of this year for the Phase 1 study and the first half of 2027 for Phase 2b.
Two former Karuna Therapeutics leaders founded Seaport. Daphne Zohar is now Seaport’s CEO and a board member, while Steven Paul is its board chair. Bristol Myers Squibb acquired Karuna in 2023 for $14 billion.
Seaport has several roles open, including clinical trial manager; senior scientist, bioanalytical science; and director, clinical quality assurance.
Odyssey Therapeutics
Launched in 2021, Odyssey Therapeutics is developing medicines for the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. The NextGen Class of 2023 winner’s therapies target initial immune responses with the goal of preventing pathologic inflammation from starting. Boston-based Odyssey raised about $315 million with its initial public offering, including the partial exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares of stock.
The biotech’s pipeline of small molecule and protein therapeutics consists of six programs, which includes RIPK2 (OD-001). The RIPK2 scaffolding inhibitor was designed for the treatment of ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, both inflammatory bowel diseases. Odyssey plans to start a Phase 2b monotherapy trial as well as a Phase 2a combination trial with vedolizumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody developed by Takeda and marketed as Entyvio, in the second half of this year. The biotech expects results from both studies in H2 2027.
Odyssey’s leadership team includes serial biotech entrepreneur Gary Glick, the company’s founder, president and CEO. Glick also founded IFM Therapeutics, Scorpion Therapeutics (a NextGen Class of 2022 winner) and First Wave BioPharma.
Odyssey has several roles open, including clinical trial manager II, computational biologist and senior clinical data manager.
Eikon Therapeutics
Based in Millbrae, California, Eikon Therapeutics develops medicines for the treatment of serious illnesses, with a goal to introduce therapies that improve and extend life. A NextGen Class of 2022 winner, Eikon launched in 2021 and raised $381 million this year with its upsized initial public offering.
The company’s pipeline consists of five oncology programs at various stages of development as well as discovery work in oncology and neurologic diseases. Programs include EIK1001, a dual agonist of toll-like receptors 7 and 8 being developed for the treatment of melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Eikon recently dosed its first patient in a Phase 2/3 registrational study evaluating EIK1001 in combination with pembrolizumab and histology-appropriate chemotherapy as a first-line therapy for patients with stage 4 NSCLC. Pembrolizumab is a humanized monoclonal antibody developed by Merck and marketed as Keytruda.
Eikon’s leadership team includes CEO Roger Perlmutter, previously the president of Merck Leadership Laboratories. While at Merck, he supervised the discovery and development of medicines including Keytruda.
Eikon has around a dozen roles open, including principal scientist, computational chemistry; director, regulatory affairs; and director, clinical quality assurance (GCP).
Scribe Therapeutics
Scribe Therapeutics, which emerged from stealth mode in 2020, engineers CRISPR-based technologies into in vivo genetic medicines for the treatment of highly prevalent diseases. The NextGen Class of 2021 winner’s initial programs focus on addressing key drivers of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD). Based in Alameda, California, Scribe raised about $155 million with its initial public offering, including the full exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares of stock.
The company’s pipeline includes three programs with identified targets and one with an undisclosed cardiometabolic target. Scribe’s lead candidate, STX-1150, is a novel liver-targeted therapy designed to epigenetically silence the PCSK9 gene and reduce LDL-C levels without causing permanent DNA changes. The company recently received approval from the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration to begin human testing of STX-1150 for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia, a major driver of ASCVC.
Scribe was co-founded by Jennifer Doudna, who co-discovered CRISPR-Cas9 genetic engineering technology with French scientist Emmanuelle Charpentier. In 2020, the pair received a Nobel Prize in Chemistry for developing the genome editing method.
