Finland: Pushing biotech forward in the land of a thousand lakes

While Finland’s biotech isn’t focused solely on health and contributes to the fields of food or sustainability with companies like Solar Foods or Metgen, healthcare remains a strong component of the country’s landscape. Here are nine biotech companies pushing the industry forward in Finland.

Aplagon 

• Foundation: 2009
• Lead candidate: APAC
• Recent news: Secured a €7 million funding round in January 2025

Aplagon is developing novel treatments for thromboinflammatory diseases. Its lead candidate, APAC, is a first-in-class therapeutic designed to act locally at sites of vascular injury by combining antiplatelet, anticoagulant, and anti-inflammatory effects. The molecule mimics natural heparin proteoglycans to offer targeted, long-lasting action while limiting systemic exposure — a key advantage over conventional anticoagulants.

The Finnish biotech company recently raised €7 million ($7.9 million) to support a phase 2a clinical trial in peripheral arterial occlusive disease and chronic limb-threatening ischemia. The funding also supports the completion of three ongoing phase 1 studies, including one in hemodialysis patients with arteriovenous fistula complications and another PET imaging study assessing APAC’s biodistribution.

So far, more than 40 participants have received APAC with no major safety concerns reported. 

Delsitech

• Founded: 2001
• Lead candidate: DST-1308 
• Recent news: Secured a €10 million financing round in January 2024

The Finland-based biotech company has developed a proprietary silica-based technology known as the Silica Matrix. This platform is designed for the controlled release of small-molecule drugs, biologics, and vaccines. By embedding the active pharmaceutical ingredients into a biodegradable silica matrix, DelSiTech can achieve a controlled and sustained release of the drugs, enhancing the efficacy and safety of the treatments.

The company’s lead program, DST-1308, is a long-acting injectable formulation of entecavir, an antiviral agent used in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B. By utilizing the Silica Matrix technology, DST-1308 aims to reduce dosing frequency from daily to once every three months, enhancing patient adherence. In addition to its internal pipeline, DelSiTech collaborates with pharmaceutical partners to develop long-acting injectable products across various therapeutic areas, including urology, reproductive health, and pediatric endocrinology.

In 2024, in addition to the closing of a €10 million ($11.3 million) funding round, DelSiTech entered into a licensing agreement with an undisclosed global pharmaceutical company, granting exclusive rights to its Silica Matrix technology for developing and commercializing a long-acting injectable drug product. This deal includes an upfront payment of $9 million, potential milestone payments exceeding $200 million, and royalties on net sales. Additionally, DelSiTech expanded its collaboration with Tolmar International to develop more drug products across therapeutic areas such as urology, reproductive health, and pediatric endocrinology​​.

Desentum

• Founded: 2011
• Lead candidate: DM-101PX
• Recent news: Positive phase 1 results reported in April 2025

Founded in 2011, Desentum aims to transform the treatment of allergies by modifying the immune system’s response from hypersensitivity to tolerance. This is achieved through the use of recombinant hypoallergens, which are engineered proteins designed to reduce the risk of serious adverse effects and decrease the time required for effective immunotherapy​​.

Its lead candidate is a vaccine, DM-101PX, a genetically engineered variant of the major birch pollen allergen Bet v 1, designed to reduce allergenicity while preserving immunogenicity. The technology underlying DM-101PX is also being applied to develop vaccines for other allergies, including grass pollen and peanut allergies​​.

In April 2025, Desentum announced positive results from a phase 1 clinical trial, demonstrating that DM-101PX was safe, well-tolerated, and induced a robust allergen-specific IgG4 response capable of blocking IgE-mediated basophil activation. These findings support the advancement of DM-101PX into phase 2 clinical trials scheduled to commence later this year. 

Earlier, in February 2024, Desentum secured €12 million ($13.6 million) in funding to support the clinical development of DM-101PX and to advance preclinical programs targeting peanut and grass pollen allergies.

Faron Pharmaceuticals

• Founded: 2007
• Lead candidate: Bexmarilimab 
• Recent news: Positive phase 2 results 

Faron Pharmaceuticals, based in Turku, Finland, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing immunotherapies for cancer and other diseases. The company’s lead product, bexmarilimab, is a humanized antibody that targets the Clever-1 receptor on myeloid cells and macrophages. By binding to this receptor, bexmarilimab aims to reprogram these cells from an immunosuppressive state to an immunostimulatory state, enhancing the body’s immune response against tumors.

Bexmarilimab is currently being evaluated in the BEXMAB study, a phase 1/2 clinical trial. This study is investigating bexmarilimab in combination with standard-of-care treatments for aggressive hematological malignancies such as acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). 

Recent data presented in April 2025 demonstrated a 63% overall response rate in HR-MDS patients, with a 76% response rate in treatment-naïve individuals. The treatment was well-tolerated, with no dose-limiting toxicities reported. Following these promising results, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted bexmarilimab orphan drug designation.

Herantis Pharma 

• Founded: 2008
• Lead candidate: HER-096 
• Recent milestone: Initiated final cohort dosing in phase 1b trial

Listed on Nasdaq Helsinki since 2014, Herantis Pharma, based in Espoo, Finland, is a clinical-stage biotech company focused on developing therapies for neurodegenerative diseases. 

The company’s lead product, HER-096, is a brain-penetrating peptidomimetic derived from the cerebral dopamine neurotrophic factor (CDNF). CDNF is known for its neuroprotective and regenerative properties, but its therapeutic application has been limited by its inability to cross the blood-brain barrier. HER-096 has been engineered to overcome this challenge, enabling subcutaneous administration while retaining the neuroprotective properties of CDNF.

HER-096 targets the unfolded protein response and brain inflammation triggered by alpha-synuclein aggregation, key factors in the progression of Parkinson’s disease. The drug’s ability to cross the blood-brain barrier positions it as a promising treatment for Parkinson’s and potentially other neurodegenerative diseases as well.

Herantis completed a phase 1a clinical trial for HER-096, which demonstrated favorable safety, tolerability, and significant concentrations of the drug in the cerebrospinal fluid after a single subcutaneous injection. The candidate is now in phase 1b and the first patient of the last cohort was dosed in May.

Additionally, Herantis secured €5.2 million ($5.9 million) in February 2025 through a directed share issue to support phase 2 preparations and partnership initiatives.

Nanoform

• Founded: 2015
• Lead candidate: Nanoenzalutamide
• Recent news: Positive bioavailability study results in January 2024

Nanoform specializes in using nanoparticles to improve the performance of drug candidates. There are many new compounds with medical potential that are challenging to dissolve and, therefore, it’s hard for the drugs to enter the patient’s bloodstream. The particles developed by Nanoform are intended to make these molecules more soluble to allow them to simplify the formulation process.

Utilizing its proprietary Controlled Expansion of Supercritical Solutions (CESS) technology, the Finland-based biotech company creates nanocrystalline forms of drug molecules to improve their solubility and bioavailability. 

Nanoform’s pipeline features several innovative projects, with nanoenzalutamide being one of the most advanced. Nanoenzalutamide is a nanocrystalline formulation of Xtandi (enzalutamide), an Astellas Pharma medication used to treat prostate cancer. The traditional formulation, Xtandi, requires multiple large tablets daily due to its poor solubility. Nanoform’s nanocrystalline alternative aims to reduce the pill burden by increasing the drug load in a single tablet, making it easier for patients to manage their medication​​.

In early 2024, Nanoform announced promising results from a bioavailability study of nanoenzalutamide. The trial demonstrated that the nanocrystalline formulation had superior bioavailability compared to the amorphous solid dispersion (ASD) used in Xtandi.

 StemSight (Tampere)

• Founded: 2021
• Lead candidate: Off-the-shelf iPSC-derived limbal stem cell therapy for LSCD
• Recent news: Raised €2.3 million in seed funding

StemSight is developing regenerative cell therapies to treat corneal blindness, with an initial focus on limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD). Its approach uses induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) combined with biomaterials to create scalable, off-the-shelf treatments that eliminate the need for donor tissue. This is particularly significant given the global shortage of corneal donors, with over 12 million people awaiting transplants.

In early 2025, the company raised €2.3 million ($2.6 million) in seed funding from Voima Ventures, Business Finland, and private investors to support preclinical studies and manufacturing pilots ahead of clinical trials. StemSight is also a partner in the EU-funded KeratOPrinter project, which aims to develop bioprinted, full-thickness corneas to further address the donor shortage

TILT Biotherapeutics

• Founded: 2013
• Lead candidate: TILT-123 
• Recent news: Closed a $25.6 million series B financing in May 2025 

TILT Biotherapeutics is developing an immunotherapy designed to improve the efficacy of cancer treatments. The therapy consists of oncolytic viruses that selectively infect tumor cells and make them produce cytokines – molecules that help the immune system identify and fight the tumor. 

The company’s lead candidate, TILT-123 (Igrelimogene litadenorepvec), is a chimeric adenovirus armed with TNF alpha and IL-2. TNF alpha is a cytokine involved in systemic inflammation and is part of the body’s immune response, while IL-2 plays a crucial role in the activation and proliferation of T lymphocytes (T-cells), which are essential for the adaptive immune response. This candidate is currently being tested in multiple phase 1 clinical trials for various cancers, including ovarian cancer and non-small cell lung cancer, in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors like pembrolizumab (KEYTRUDA) and avelumab​​.

TILT Biotherapeutics presented promising clinical trial results for TILT-123 at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2024 annual meeting. 

In May 2025, the company announced the closing of a $25 million series B financing round. The funds will support a phase 2 clinical trial of TILT-123 in patients with platinum-resistant epithelial ovarian cancer.

Valo Therapeutics

• Founded: 2016
• Lead candidate: PeptiCRAd-1 
• Recent milestone: Secured €19 million in funding in March 2025

Valo Therapeutics is developing a new form of cancer immunotherapy. Its technology consists of coating the surface of oncolytic viruses with tumor peptides, which strongly activate the immune system against the tumor. The Finland-based biotech company leverages its platform PeptiCRAd (Peptide-coated Conditionally Replicating Adenovirus). This platform aims to deliver highly specific, adaptable, and immunogenic treatments for various cancer types.

The lead product in Valo’s pipeline is PeptiCRAd-1, currently in a phase 1 clinical trial. PeptiCRAd-1 combines an oncolytic adenovirus with immunogenic peptides derived from tumor-specific proteins (NY-ESO-1 and MAGE-A3). This combination is designed to generate a strong systemic cytotoxic T-cell response against multiple tumor antigens. The trial involves patients with melanoma, triple-negative breast cancer, and non-small cell lung cancer, and it also includes an extension to treat certain types of sarcoma​.

In 2023, Valo Therapeutics began dosing patients in its phase 1 trial of PeptiCRAd-1 to evaluate the safety, immune activity, and tumor response of this innovative therapy both alone and in combination with pembrolizumab. Additionally, Valo received regulatory approval to expand the trial to sarcoma. 

More recently, in March 2025, the Finland-based biotech closed a €19 million ($20.6 million) funding round.

Finland biotech’s focus on sustainability

Finland’s biotechnology landscape, while not as expansive as some global counterparts, is marked by a strong commitment to innovation and sustainability. The Finnish government plays a pivotal role in this ecosystem, notably through the Bioeconomy Strategy 2022–2035. This strategy aims to double the value added by the bioeconomy in an ecologically, socially, and economically sustainable manner, contributing to Finland’s goal of achieving climate neutrality by 2035.

The strategy emphasizes the development of high-value-added products and services, leveraging Finland’s strengths in renewable resources and technological expertise. This approach not only fosters economic growth but also aligns with global sustainability goals. The country’s biotech industry focus is clearly on sustainability, but that doesn’t mean it does not invest in health biotech. Finland is witnessing a surge in innovative companies focusing on areas like immuno-oncology, neurodegenerative diseases, and advanced drug delivery systems. With a projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.4% from 2022 to 2030, the Finnish biotech industry is poised for significant expansion.

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