Navigating German biotech: 14 key players to know 

Germany is home to one of Europe’s most active biotech ecosystems, with clusters in Munich, Berlin, Heidelberg, and beyond. Germany has produced globally recognized biotech companies such as BioNTech, but there’s also a diverse community of startups building the next wave of technologies. 

In this article, we highlight biotech companies in Germany that are worth keeping an eye on, from early clinical players to younger startups beginning to translate science into drug candidates: a blend of startups and more established players. 
 
Here are 14 German biotechs! 

Abalos Therapeutics 

• Founded: 2019  
• Technology: “AdaptInnate” arenavirus-based immuno-virotherapy  
• Lead candidate: ABX-001 

Abalos, based in Dusseldorf is developing arenavirus-based therapies that aim to do more than trigger an immune response: the company’s “AdaptInnate” platform uses arenaviruses designed to persist in tumor cells and antigen-presenting cells, to stimulate both innate and adaptive immune responses. The idea is to drive antigen presentation, T-cell infiltration, and a durable immune response even in tumors that are poorly infiltrated, cold tumors. 

The lead candidate, ABX-001, has shown strong tumor regression in multiple preclinical solid tumor models and the induction of tumor-specific T cells. Abalos reports a robust safety profile in non-human primates. Abalos’ website says it’s preparing to initiate first-in-human trials in patients with solid tumors, targeting a clinical start in 2025, so the trial might start soon.  

On the funding and investor side, the Germany-based biotech company has raised about $50 million in its series A, with the extended series A topping €43 million ($50 million) in October 2021. Investors include Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund, Seventure Partners, among others.  

Ariceum Therapeutics 

• Funding year: 2021 
• Technology: Radiopharmaceuticals (theranostics) 
• Lead candidate: Satoreotide 

Ariceum Therapeutics, based in Berlin, is developing next-generation radiopharmaceuticals that combine diagnostic and therapeutic potential in a single molecule. Its approach centers on targeting the somatostatin type 2 receptor (SSTR2), which is highly expressed in neuroendocrine tumors and other aggressive cancers.  

By linking a peptide antagonist to radionuclides, the company’s lead program satoreotide, can both image tumors and deliver targeted radiation therapy. This dual capability, referred to as theranostics,is becoming an increasingly valuable tool for precision oncology, as it allows clinicians to select patients more effectively and tailor treatment doses. 

The company launched in 2021 with a series A round and expanded its financing to €47.75 million ($56 million) in 2023 to move satoreotide further into the clinic. In 2024, it opened a new radiopharmaceutical research and development (R&D) laboratory in Berlin. More recently, in February 2025, Ariceum secured Orphan Drug Designation from the FDA for satoreotide. With satoreotide already tested in over 100 patients across different tumor types, Ariceum is positioning itself as one of the most promising German players in radiopharma, an area gaining considerable momentum. 

Breakpoint Therapeutics 

• Founded: 2019 
• Technology: Small-molecule inhibitors  
• Lead candidate: BTX-011 

Breakpoint, spun out of Evotec in Hamburg in 2019 with a €30 million ($35.3 million) series A round it later expanded, is focusing on cancer treatments that exploit vulnerabilities in how tumors repair DNA.  

Its lead asset, BTX-011, is a potent, selective, oral inhibitor of POLQ, an enzyme involved in microhomology-mediated end-joining (MMEJ), a backup DNA repair pathway that some tumors rely on when their main repair systems are compromised. The rationale is that inhibiting POLQ can sensitize tumors to existing therapies or overcome resistance, especially in tumors with DNA damage response defects. 

In March 2024, Breakpoint nominated BTX-011 as its first development candidate and kicked off investigational new drug (IND)-enabling activities. Preclinical models show strong anti-tumor efficacy when BTX-011 is combined with PARP inhibitors, and importantly, with good tolerability in animal studies. It is still preclinical, and the space is competitive, but it’s worth keeping an eye on the Evotec spin-off.  

CatalYm 

• Founded: 2016 
• Technology: Anti-GDF-15 monoclonal antibody  
• Lead candidate: Visugromab 

CatalYm, a spin-out from Würzburg University founded in 2016 and now based in Munich, is developing therapies that aim to restore the immune system’s ability to attack tumors. Its lead program targets GDF-15, a cytokine that many cancers overproduce to keep immune cells out of the tumor microenvironment. By blocking this signal, CatalYm’s antibody visugromab is designed to open the door for T cells to enter tumors and boost the effect of checkpoint inhibitors such as anti-PD-1 drugs. 

Visugromab has already shown encouraging results in an early clinical program. In phase 1/2a trial, the antibody in combination with nivolumab produced durable tumor responses in patients who had previously stopped benefiting from checkpoint therapy, with a manageable safety profile. Data from the same study demonstrated that visugromab can counteract the effects of cachexia, a complex wasting syndrome that can impact patients’ treatment tolerability and quality of life.

To push the program further, the company raised a $150 million series D round in July 2024, one of Germany’s largest biotech financings that year. The funding is supporting a set of randomized phase 2b trials, including a neoadjuvant study in muscle-invasive bladder cancer where visugromab plus nivolumab is being tested against standard therapy. Looking ahead, the key questions are how broadly this strategy will work across solid tumors and whether biomarkers such as GDF-15 levels can identify the patients most likely to benefit. 

Ethris 

• Founded: 2009 
• Technology: Stabilized non-immunogenic mRNA (SNIM) platform 
• Lead candidate: ETH47 

Ethris, headquartered near Munich, has been developing RNA-based medicines for over a decade, with a focus on respiratory disease. Its SNIM platform produces chemically modified mRNAs that are stabilized and designed to avoid triggering unwanted immune reactions, one of the main hurdles that limit the use of RNA therapeutics. As they are delivered with lipid nanoparticles, these mRNAs can be administered directly to the lungs, where they act locally at the site of infection or inflammation. 

The company’s lead program, ETH47, is a first-in-class inhaled mRNA therapy designed to trigger an antiviral response in the respiratory tract. By priming innate immune defenses at the virus entry site, the therapy aims to prevent viral replication and protect patients vulnerable to infections that can exacerbate conditions such as asthma or COPD. The company presented positive results for ETH47’s phase 1 in early 2025, and the first phase 2 patient was dosed in August.  

Ethris is expanding its reach through several recent partnerships and grants. In June 2025, it started a collaboration with Thermo Fisher Scientific to scale up its SNIM mRNA platform into manufacturing for wider biotech licensees. In September 2025, it teamed up with Evonik to enhance its SNaP LNP delivery technology for better stability and lung targeting. Ethris also secured a €10 million ($11.7 million) EU4Health grant in May 2025 and a $5 million grant from CEPI to work on spray-dried mRNA vaccine formulations. 

Immatics 

• Founded: 2000 
• Technology: PRAME-targeting T-cell therapies and bispecifics 
• Lead candidate: Anzu-cel (IMA203) 

Immatics is a clinical-stage biotech company based in Tübingen, Germany, near Stuttgart. It focuses on leveraging T cells to attack cancer via the antigen PRAME, which is expressed in many solid tumors but minimally in normal tissues. Its strategy includes both engineered TCR-T cell therapies and off-the-shelf bispecific antibodies. The idea is that targeting PRAME allows for precision and applicability across many cancer types. 

Its lead program, anzu-cel (IMA203), is in a phase 3 trial called SUPRAME for patients with advanced melanoma who have already been treated with checkpoint inhibitors. In parallel, the phase 1b trial has produced updated data in melanoma, showing durable responses in heavily pretreated patients. They’re also pushing forward second-generation PRAME cell therapy, a bispecific (IMA402) targeting PRAME in solid tumors, and another bispecific, IMA401, targeting MAGEA4/8 in cancers like head and neck. 

Financially, the company is in strong shape: as of Q2 2025, it reported around $560 million in cash and equivalents, giving it a runway into the second half of 2027. They expect important data readouts in the fourth quarter of 2025 and completion of enrollment in SUPRAME by 2026. 

InflaRx 

• Founded: 2007 
• Technology: Anti-C5a / C5aR complement inhibitors 
• Lead candidate: Vilobelimab 

InflaRx is a biotech company based in Jena, Eastern Germany, focused on blocking the complement factor C5a or its receptor (C5aR) to tame inflammation. C5a is a potent immune amplifier: it recruits neutrophils, causes oxidative stress, and drives cytokine release. By targeting C5a or C5aR, InflaRx’s approach could suppress pathological inflammation in multiple immune and inflammatory diseases without affecting the rest of the complement system. 

Its main candidate, vilobelimab (GOHIBIC), is an intravenously delivered anti-C5a monoclonal antibody. It has already been approved under exceptional circumstances in the European Union (EU) for the treatment of COVID-19-induced acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in ventilated patients, and obtained an emergency use authorization (EUA) from the FDA. But a recent phase 3 trial of vilobelimab for pyoderma gangrenosum (PG), a rare skin disease, was stopped early for futility by the data monitoring committee after an interim analysis in mid-2025.  

At the same time, InflaRx is advancing INF904, an oral, small-molecule C5aR inhibitor. Its phase 2a trial in two dermatology conditions, chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) and hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), is expected to report results before the end of 2025.  

iOmx Therapeutics 

• Founded: 2016 
• Technology: Spectrum-selective SIK (Salt-Inducible Kinase) inhibition 
• Lead candidate: OMX-0407 

Munich-based biotech iOmx is developing OMX-0407, an oral kinase inhibitor that selectively targets SIK family kinases and other tyrosine kinases, with the goal of combining direct anti-tumor activity with immune modulation, making the tumor microenvironment more responsive to immune signals. It’s designed to tackle solid tumors where existing therapies have failed, particularly renal cell carcinoma and angiosarcoma. 

The clinical progress is promising. iOmx has completed the dose-escalation phase of a phase 1a/1b study with OMX-0407 in solid tumors and found it to be safe and tolerable. Among around 20 heavily pretreated patients, there was evidence of anti-tumor activity, including one durable complete response in an angiosarcoma patient. More recently, in 2025, biomarker analyses have confirmed that OMX-0407’s effect on phosphorylation of SIKs in peripheral blood mononuclear cells is dose-dependent. 

What makes iOmx particularly interesting is not just the lead asset but the broader pipeline: IOMX-0675 is a dual-target antibody against LILRB1/LILRB2 designed to reactivate both innate and adaptive immunity, and they also have an inflammatory bowel disease-oriented program, IOMX-0235, in earlier stages. 

ITM Isotope Technologies Munich SE 

• Founded: 2004 
• Technology: Radiopharmaceuticals  
• Lead candidate: ITM-11 

ITM is developing a precision radiopharmaceutical called ITM-11, which targets somatostatin receptors (SSTR) expressed on gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (GEP-NETs). The drug uses “non-carrier-added” lutetium-177 bound to a peptide analog. The idea is that, once injected, the molecule homes in on tumor cells, binds to SSTR, and delivers targeted beta-radiation to kill them, while leaving healthy tissue relatively spared, especially compared to less targeted therapies. 

In the phase 3 COMPETE trial, ITM-11 met its primary endpoint: progression-free survival was 23.9 months versus 14.1 months for everolimus in patients with inoperable, progressive grade 1 or 2 GEP-NETs. Disease control and safety were favorable, with a better tolerability profile and fewer severe drug-related adverse events than with everolimus. 

On the regulatory and commercial front, ITM plans to submit a New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before the end of 2025, based on the COMPETE results. Meanwhile, the Germany-based biotech company secured a debt financing arrangement in May 2025 worth up to $262.5 million led by Blue Owl Capital to help support commercial readiness, manufacturing scale-up, and preparation for potential market launch.  

SciRhom 

• Founded: 2016 
• Technology: iRhom2-targeting monoclonal antibodies 
• Lead candidate: SR-878 

Based in the suburbs of Munich, SciRhom is trying to quiet autoimmune inflammation by going one step upstream of well-known cytokines. Instead of blocking TNF-α or IL-6R directly, its antibodies target iRhom2, a regulatory protein that controls the sheddase TACE/ADAM17, the enzyme that releases multiple inflammatory signals from cell surfaces. The bet is that modulating iRhom2 can dial down several disease-driving pathways at once while sparing other essential ADAM17 functions, potentially avoiding toxicities seen with blunt ADAM17 inhibition. 

Its lead antibody SR-878 is in phase 1 in healthy volunteers, and dosing began in October 2024. In July 2024, SciRhom raised a €63 million ($74 million) series A to fund this clinical transition and early expansion.  

Seamless Therapeutics 

• Founded: 2022 
• Technology: Reprogrammed site-specific recombinases for targeted gene editing 
• Lead program: Preclinical large-serine recombinase (LSR) candidates 

Seamless Therapeutics is building a gene-editing platform around programmable recombinases that can make large edits to the human genome with high specificity. Recombinases have long been used in research, but until recently were limited to a few fixed target sites. Seamless has developed methods to reprogram these enzymes so they can act at virtually any chosen genomic sequence. That opens up editing functions such as inversion, excision, exchange, or insertion of DNA fragments, potentially with fewer errors than approaches that rely on DNA repair pathways. 

The Dresden biotech company has attracted steady support, raising $12.5 million in seed financing in 2022 and extending that to about $25 million by 2024, led by Wellington Partners and Forbion. Its lead programs remain preclinical, with one disease target already defined and others still in discovery. At the 2024 European Society of Gene & Cell Therapy Congress (ESGCT) meeting, Seamless presented data showing that its reprogrammed large-serine recombinases could recognize natural human genomic sites and insert large DNA fragments with precision, an important step toward therapeutic applications. 

Seamless is still at an early stage, with in-human data yet to come, and the gene-editing space is crowded with CRISPR-based players. But its approach offers a differentiated angle, and if preclinical progress translates, it could add a valuable alternative to the current editing toolbox. 

Secarna Pharmaceuticals 

• Founded: 2015 
• Technology: Antisense oligonucleotides  
• Lead candidate: SECN-15 

Secarna develops antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) designed to “switch off” disease-driving genes at the RNA level. The company’s discovery engine combines its LNAplus chemistry and OligoCreator design platform to optimize potency and specificity, then layers delivery strategies on top, including a 2024 collaboration with Orbit Discovery to add peptide-conjugated, targeted ASOs beyond the usual antibody or sugar conjugates. The aim is simple: get potent ASOs to the right cells, with fewer off-target effects.  

The lead program, SECN-15, targets Neuropilin-1 (NRP1), a transmembrane protein involved in tumor immune evasion and angiogenesis. By silencing NRP1 in tumors with an ASO, Secarna is trying to make “cold” tumors more visible to the immune system and boost responses to checkpoint inhibitors. In 2025, the company presented new preclinical data at AACR and outlined plans at ASCO for first-in-human testing. Secarna says it is preparing to start clinical trials in mid-2026 based on this package. 

Secarna’s broader pipeline spans immuno-oncology and immunology with both proprietary and partnered assets; its public pipeline page highlights programs across oncology, inflammatory and fibrotic diseases, cardiometabolic, and central nervous system (CNS) indications. The company’s partnering stance is explicit: offering platform access for co-discovery while advancing its own lead into the clinic. 

Topas Therapeutics 

• Founded: 2016 
• Technology: Antigen-coupled nanoparticle platform 
• Lead candidate: TPM502 

Like Breakpoint, Topas Therapeutics also spun out of Evotec, and went on to close a series A and a series B round, bringing its total funding to approximately $48 million.  

Topas’ lead technology, called Topas Particle Conjugates (TPCs), are nanoparticles coupled with disease-relevant peptide antigens. Once delivered to the liver, they interact with liver sinusoidal endothelial cells, which naturally promote immune tolerance. The goal is to “teach” the immune system not to overreact to those antigens, restoring immune balance without the need for broad immunosuppression. 

Its lead program, TPM502, was tested in a phase 2a trial in adults with celiac disease. TPM502 showed a favorable safety and tolerability profile, dose-dependent reductions in inflammatory cytokines released by gluten-specific T cells, durable modulation of antigen-specific CD4+ T cells, and improvement in patient-reported symptoms after gluten challenge. The antigen-specific effects persisted for at least one month after treatment. 

Hamburg-based Topas is preparing for a phase 2b trial in celiac disease to confirm efficacy and see whether the disease-modifying signals seen translate into durable clinical benefit.  

Tubulis 

• Founded: 2019 
• Technology: Tubutecan ADC platform  
• Lead candidates: TUB-040 (NaPi2b) and TUB-030 (5T4) 

Munich-based biotech Tubulis is looking to push antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) beyond their current limits. The company has built the Tubutecan platform, which combines its P5 conjugation chemistry with exatecan, a topoisomerase I inhibitor, to create highly stable linkers that hold onto their payloads until they reach tumor cells. The goal is simple: deliver more drug to the tumor, reduce off-target toxicity, and extend the durability of response. 

That approach is now being tested in the clinic. The lead program, TUB-040, which targets the NaPi2b antigen, is in a phase 1/2a study for ovarian cancer and relapsed lung adenocarcinoma, and has already been granted Fast Track designation by the FDA. A second candidate, TUB-030, targets the oncofetal antigen 5T4 and entered a phase 1/2Ia trial in early 2025. Tubulis’ reach extends beyond its own pipeline: its strategic partnership with Bristol Myers Squibb has already delivered the first licensed Tubutecan-based ADC into the clinic, a sign that big pharma sees potential in its technology. 

Backed by a €128 million ($150 million) series B2 financing in 2024, for Tubulis, the coming years will show whether its engineered ADCs can live up to their promise in patients. 

Germany, a strong European biotech player 

Germany’s biotech landscape in mid-2025 looks less explosive than in 2024, but still full of potential. With nearly 4,000 life-sciences firms working in therapeutics, diagnostics, and enabling tech, the ecosystem remains dense and vibrant. Investment in biotech surged last year to €1.9 billion ($2.2 billion), a strong rebound after leaner years. But so far in 2025, public market exits like initial public offerings (IPOs), are few and investor appetite leans heavily toward companies with solid clinical data and differentiated assets. 

Despite the rebound in 2024, raising money in 2025 has become more selective and uneven. Early-stage financing in Germany remains a weak spot: surveys show startups without clear clinical data or differentiated assets are struggling to attract investors, and the volume of early-stage rounds fell to its lowest in years before recovering only partially. Venture capital is flowing, but mostly toward later rounds or companies with proof-of-concept in hand. Scale-ups and growth-stage firms also face gaps, as public markets remain closed, Germany has yet to see a biotech IPO this year. For many of the younger players, partnerships with pharma or larger biotechs are likely to be the only viable route across the clinical journey.