Six Spanish biotech ­startups to watch in 2026

Funding tells an even sharper story. Spanish biotech companies raised a record €408 million across 59 transactions in 2025, up 125% from €181 million a year earlier. International investors participated in capital increases worth €302 million, underlining the sector’s growing visibility beyond Spain.

But the headline total only tells part of the story. Deals above €20 million accounted for 67% of all capital raised, while 26 of the 59 transactions were below €1 million. Between those extremes, a new generation of drug developers is beginning to emerge with enough backing to move from platform building and preclinical validation toward the clinic.

1. Telum Therapeutics

• Founded: 2019
• Headquarters: Noáin, Navarre
• Focus: Antimicrobial therapies
• Clinical stage: Entering Phase 1
• Funding stage: Series A
• Total funding: €22.1M (€4.1M initial round + €18M Total funding: Series A)

Telum Therapeutics is developing a new class of protein-based antimicrobials to tackle infections caused by multidrug-resistant bacteria. Its APEX platform mines metagenomic datasets and uses synthetic biology and computational tools to discover and engineer phage-derived lytic proteins that can directly destroy bacterial cells. The lead program targets Acinetobacter baumannii in hospital-acquired and ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia, one of the pathogens prioritized globally because of antimicrobial resistance. Founded in Navarre in 2019, Telum is still preclinical but is preparing to enter human testing. Its €18 million Series A, led by the AMR Action Fund in July 2026, is intended to fund the lead program through Phase 1 development. The company is also building earlier programs against other Gram-negative and Gram-positive pathogens, giving the platform potential beyond a single antibiotic-resistant species.

2. Integra Therapeutics

• Founded: 2020
• Headquarters: Barcelona
• Focus: Gene editing
• Clinical stage: Preclinical
• Funding stage: Pre-Series A
• Total funding: €16.7M (E6M seed + €10.7M pre- Series A)

Founded as a Pompeu Fabra University spin-off, Integra Therapeutics is building FiCAT, a gene-writing platform designed to insert large DNA sequences precisely and stably into the genome. The system combines CRISPR-based targeting with an engineered transposase and is being developed for cell and gene therapies. Integra is using FiCAT to generate next-generation CAR-T cells for oncology and autoimmune diseases, while also advancing an in vivo gene therapy for a rare pediatric liver disorder. The company remains preclinical, but in 2026 reported that FiCAT could insert four therapeutic genes while removing an unwanted gene in a single intervention in preclinical models. A €10.7 million pre-Series A in 2025, backed by the EIC Fund, CDTI ­Innvierte, AdBio, Columbus, Invivo and Takeda Ventures, is funding further platform development, CAR-T validation and technology transfer to pharma partners. It also has a proprietary rare-disease program.

3. Nanoligent

• Founded: 2017
• Headquarters: Barcelona
• Focus: Targeted oncology nanomedicines
• Clinical stage: Preclinical
• Funding stage: Series A
• Total funding: €14.8M (€2.8M seed + €12M Series A)

Nanoligent is developing protein-based nanomedicines designed to deliver potent cytotoxic drugs selectively to cancer cells. Its lead candidate, NNL1524, targets CXCR4, a receptor associated with tumor aggressiveness, metastasis and treatment resistance across multiple cancers. The nanoparticle combines a CXCR4-targeting ligand with a cytotoxic payload in a compact, multivalent protein structure intended to improve tumor penetration while limiting exposure to healthy tissues. Founded from research at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and Sant Pau Research Institute, Nanoligent is now completing regulatory preclinical development of NNL1524. A €12 million Series A closed in October 2025 is financing manufacturing scale-up and preparation of a first-in-human Phase 1a study in patients with solid tumors, making the company one of Spain’s clearest examples of a preclinical biotech moving toward clinical validation.

4. Orikine Bio

• Founded: 2022
• Headquarters: Barcelona
• Focus: Engineered cytokines
• Clinical stage: Preclinical
• Funding stage: Post-seed
• Total funding: €11.2M equity (€5.5M seed + €5.7M extension)

Orikine Bio is developing engineered cytokines to reprogram immune cells in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Its Foldikine platform combines dual cytokine activities in a single molecule. Lead candidate ORK1 activates CSF1 and IL-10 signaling to drive monocytes toward regulatory macrophages that migrate to inflamed tissue and restore immune homeostasis. Orikine says a single dose reduced ulcerative colitis symptoms in two in vivo models. ORK1 is now in IND-enabling studies, with inflammatory bowel disease as its first planned indication. In September 2026, Sabrina Kuttruff-Coqui became CEO after serving as Aicuris CFO through its $920 million sale to Asahi Kasei and helping Immatics reach ­Nasdaq. Joachim Koch, formerly Affimed’s head of discovery and translational immunology, joined as CSO/CDO, while former Immunic CMO Andreas Muehler joined part-time as CMO, adding clinical and regulatory experience as ORK1 moves toward human testing.

5. Iteria Biopharma

• Founded: 2024
• Headquarters: Touro
• Focus: Small-molecule oncology
• Clinical stage: Preclinical
• Funding stage: Seed
• Total funding: €5M seed round

Iteria Biopharma is a very young Galician oncology company built around small-molecule drug discovery for advanced metastatic cancers. Founded in 2024 by GalChimia, Palobiofarma founder Julio ­Castro and biotech executive Ramon Bosser, the company applies medicinal chemistry to targets that remain difficult to address with existing treatments. Its lead candidate, ITR-251, is a monoamine oxidase A inhibi­tor being developed initially for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Two earlier programs target solid tumors through a kinase protein degrader and a nuclear-receptor antagonist. Iteria remains preclinical, but its €5 million seed round in April 2026 was sized to take ITR-251 through regulatory preclinical work and a first clinical trial, while advancing the rest of the pipeline. That unusually broad mandate makes Iteria one of the more clinically ambitious companies at Spain’s seed stage, despite being founded only in 2024.

6. Adaptam Therapeutics

• Founded: 2022, originally as Zelula Biopharma
• Headquarters: San Sebastián
• Focus: Myeloid-targeted cancer immunotherapy
• Clinical stage: Discovery
• Funding stage: Pre-seed
• Total funding: €3M pre-seed round

Adaptam Therapeutics is taking aim at a part of the tumor microenvironment that can blunt the effect of cancer immunotherapies: immunosuppressive myeloid cells. The Centre for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC bioGUNE) spin-off is developing antibody-based therapies against targets including glycan-binding proteins and Siglecs expressed on tumor-associated macrophages. Its programs include antibody-drug conjugates and bispecific antibodies intended either to eliminate these suppressive cells or reprogram the immune environment around solid tumors. The company originated in 2022 as Zelula Biopharma before adopting the Adaptam name in 2024, and is led by cancer immunology researcher Asis Palazon. Adaptam remains at an early preclinical stage: its €3 million pre-seed round in October 2025, led by Criteria Bio Ventures, is being used to advance its first programs into preclinical development across several oncology indications and establish a much broader myeloid-targeted pipeline.