Valink Therapeutics

Valink Therapeutics is a biotechnology company developing next-generation oncology therapeutics centred on bispecific antibody-drug conjugates (bsADCs). Its stated aim is to design drugs that distinguish tumour cells from healthy tissue, improving efficacy while limiting the dose-limiting toxicities that constrain conventional ADCs. Beyond bsADCs, the company reports proprietary protein technologies for multispecific and multifunctional ADCs, multivalent agonists and other complementary modalities.

The company's central concept is "V-gate", an extension of the binary AND/OR gating used in bispecific binding. Rather than responding only to the presence or absence of two surface targets, Valink states that its molecules are tuned to continuous expression levels of each target, which it presents as a route to a wider therapeutic index and to targets previously considered undruggable. Discovery is run on the LiliumX platform, described as combining synthetic protein biology, high-throughput functional screening and AI to search the bsADC design space.

Valink's disclosed pipeline comprises oncology programs labelled VLN1 through VLN4, spanning discovery and lead optimisation/preclinical stages, with indications including colorectal cancer, non-small cell lung cancer and other solid tumours, plus pan-cancer and unannounced programs. At the time of its October 2025 financing the company said two oncology programs were advancing into preclinical development for solid tumour indications, including colorectal cancer.

Founding story

Valink was founded in 2021 by Arne Scheu (Co-founder and CEO), a Rhodes Scholar with a DPhil in Biochemistry from the University of Oxford, and Irsyad Khairil (Co-founder and CTO), a pharma analyst with a background in protein engineering and a DPhil in Biochemistry from Oxford. The company is described as a University of Oxford spinout and participated in Y Combinator's Winter 2021 batch.

Business model

Valink is a private, venture-backed biotechnology company that discovers and develops its own therapeutic assets, funding operations through equity financings. It also states an interest in collaborating with partners on its discovery engine and has entered a strategic alliance with Nona Biosciences for biologics discovery. Contact for asset and collaboration discussions is directed through the company's website and LinkedIn.

No commercial products are disclosed; the company is preclinical and financed by venture equity, with business development and collaboration on its discovery engine identified as avenues for partnering.

Traction

Valink reports four disclosed oncology programs (VLN1-VLN4) across discovery and lead optimisation/preclinical stages, with two programs advancing into preclinical development for solid tumours as of October 2025. It has raised an $11.8 million Pre-A round, assembled a board chaired by Martin D. Williams and a scientific advisory board of ADC and bispecific specialists, and lists a team of roughly 20 named staff, with Y Combinator reporting a team size of 15.

Latest developments

In December 2025 Valink announced a strategic alliance with Nona Biosciences to accelerate novel biologics discovery. This followed the October 2025 close of an $11.8 million Pre-A round led by redalpine, with new investors LongeVC and Oxford Science Enterprises and existing investors RV Invest, p53 Invest, Hoxton Ventures, Saras Capital and Oxonian Ventures, and the establishment of Cambridge, Massachusetts headquarters. Proceeds are earmarked for advancing the oncology pipeline toward preclinical milestones.