OMass Therapeutics, an Oxford biotech that develops small-molecule medicines, has raised an oversubscribed $310m (£230m) Series C round, the company announced on 15 October 2026.
Three new investors, Bain Capital Life Sciences, Forbion and Novo Holdings, co-led the financing. Janus Henderson Investors, SV Health Investors and Jefferson Life Sciences also joined for the first time, and every existing shareholder took part, among them Syncona, Oxford Science Enterprises, GV, Northpond Ventures, Sanofi Ventures, the British Business Bank and the University of Oxford.
OMass did not disclose a valuation. Syncona said it had committed $10.1m to the round and expects to own 16.1% of the company once all of the money has been drawn down, according to RTTNews, which also reported that Syncona now values its holding at £56m (about $75m).
“This financing comes at an exciting point in OMass’ evolution as we advance OMS1620 into the clinic, with our SLC15A4 inhibitor poised to follow.”Ros Deegan, Chief Executive Officer, OMass Therapeutics
What OMass does
The company was spun out of Professor Dame Carol Robinson's laboratory at the University of Oxford to turn her work on native mass spectrometry into drugs for targets that have historically been hard to reach. Its OdyssION platform combines that mass spectrometry with new biochemistry methods and in-house chemistry so that drug targets can be studied inside their natural cellular surroundings.
Its lead candidate, OMS1620, blocks the MC2 (melanocortin-2) receptor. OMass is developing it for congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) and for ACTH-dependent Cushing's syndrome. The company says the molecule is built to stay on the receptor longer and keep working when levels of the hormone ACTH rise, which it hopes will let more CAH patients bring their androgen levels to normal while taking only physiologic doses of steroids.
The second programme is a potential first-in-class inhibitor of SLC15A4, aimed at lupus and other diseases driven by excess interferon and harmful B-cell activity. In September 2025 OMass also signed an exclusive collaboration and licence deal with Genentech covering oral small molecules for inflammatory bowel disease.
What the money is for
The proceeds will carry OMS1620 through Phase 2 development in CAH and Cushing's syndrome and produce the first clinical data for the SLC15A4 inhibitor. Some of the money will also go to earlier pipeline work.
Chief executive Ros Deegan said the financing arrives as OMS1620 moves into the clinic, with the SLC15A4 programme due to follow. Forbion's Audrey Cacaly noted that both programmes came out of the company's own internal discovery work.
As part of the deal, Evan Greif of Bain Capital Life Sciences and Audrey Cacaly of Forbion join the board, while Max Klement of Novo Holdings and Ali Jazayeri of SV Health Investors take observer seats.
The funding so far
OMass closed a $17.2m Series A led by Syncona with Oxford Sciences Innovation in November 2018 and extended it by $34.22m in February 2020, according to BioSpace. In April 2022 it raised a $100m Series B led by GV, Northpond Ventures and Sanofi Ventures.
British Patient Capital added £10m (about $12.5m) as an extension to the Series B in May 2023, which UKTN reported took the Series B to £85.5m and the company's total funding to £129m at the time. At £230m, the new round is larger than all of that earlier funding combined.
Company website: omass.com