OMass Therapeutics raises USD 310 million Series C to take drug through Phase 2

OMass Therapeutics, a drug developer based in Oxford, announced on 15 October 2026 an oversubscribed USD 310 million (GBP 230 million) Series C financing. Three new investors, Bain Capital Life Sciences, Forbion and Novo Holdings, co-led the round. Janus Henderson Investors, SV Health Investors and Jefferson Life Sciences also joined, and existing investors Syncona, Oxford Science Enterprises, GV, Northpond Ventures, Sanofi Ventures, the British Business Bank and the University of Oxford took part, the company said.

OMass did not disclose its valuation or the stakes taken by most investors. Syncona said in a regulatory announcement the same day that it has committed USD 10.1 million (GBP 7.5 million) to the round and that its ownership will be 16.1 per cent on drawdown of the full Series C. Syncona said it has invested GBP 1.7 million of new capital since 30 June 2026 and that its holding has been written up by GBP 4.7 million, which it described as “a 9.4 per cent uplift to the 30 June 2026 valuation of the company”. That is Syncona’s own valuation, not a price published by OMass.

What the money is for

The company said the financing will take its lead programme, OMS1620, through Phase 2 clinical development in congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) and ACTH-dependent Cushing’s syndrome. OMass describes OMS1620 as a potential best-in-class MC2 (melanocortin-2) receptor antagonist designed to increase receptor residency time and to keep working as the body’s own ACTH levels rise. The company says this could allow more patients with CAH to achieve androgen normalisation while on physiological doses of glucocorticoids. The release reports no trial results, makes no regulatory claims and gives no date for the start of Phase 2 or for data.

The money will also fund initial clinical data for an SLC15A4 inhibitor, which OMass calls potentially first-in-class, in lupus and other diseases associated with interferon overproduction and pathogenic B-cell activation. Audrey Cacaly of Forbion said in the release that the programmes are part of a pipeline built entirely through internal discovery; OMass calls its discovery platform OdyssION. OMass was founded as a spin-out from Professor Dame Carol Robinson’s laboratory at the University of Oxford.

Evan Greif of Bain Capital Life Sciences and Audrey Cacaly of Forbion will join the board, and Max Klement of Novo Holdings and Ali Jazayeri of SV Health Investors will take board observer seats. Ros Deegan, the chief executive, said the company is entering its next phase of growth as it advances OMS1620 into the clinic.

It is encouraging to see high-quality UK early-stage companies attract capital at scale in areas of high innovation.

Edward Hodgkin, Managing Partner, Syncona Investment Management Limited, and Board Director, OMass

A busy week for UK biotech funding

Startupmag’s UK funding report for 12 to 16 October listed OMass, which it put at about GBP 233.75 million, alongside Microbiotica’s GBP 36 million Series C, led by the British Business Bank, and Stryker’s investment in CMR Surgical. Syncona’s announcement names British Patient Capital among the existing investors where OMass’s release names the British Business Bank. BioXconomy, which interviewed Deegan, reported that the company has a US subsidiary.

Our reading

• The Healthcare Daily’s reading: all three co-leads are new to the shareholder register, which is the clearest signal in the announcement that specialist funds outside the existing syndicate are prepared to back OMass into Phase 2. The British Business Bank is named as an existing investor here, and Startupmag reported that it led Microbiotica’s GBP 36 million Series C in the same week, so it took part in two of the week’s larger UK life sciences financings.
• Syncona’s 9.4 per cent uplift is the only marker of value in the announcements. It is the investor’s own mark on its holding after the round, and OMass has published no valuation, so no round price should be inferred from it.
• For NHS endocrinology services and the companies that supply them, any change depends on Phase 2 data for OMS1620. OMass has given no timetable for those results, so its description of the drug remains a company claim.