23 Biotech Companies Pitch for Funding at Saudi Arabia's LSIF 2026

Twenty-three biotechnology companies from eight countries traveled to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to compete at the Life Sciences Innovation Forum, or LSIF 2026. The event was part of the Riyadh Global Medical Biotechnology Summit, which ran from September 14 to 16. Companies pitched their ideas to investors and judges who work in the life sciences field. A South Korean company called Bilix walked away as the Grand Winner of the competition.

Bilix created a platform called Brixelle, which combines a natural antioxidant called bilirubin with a chemical compound to fight dangerous inflammation. This kind of inflammation can happen when someone receives an organ transplant, has a heart attack, or suffers a stroke. A representative from Bilix said winning was 'a great honor,' but added that 'the real win is scaling our startup with the Kingdom's research ecosystem.' The company hopes to grow by working closely with Saudi Arabia's science and research community.

Investors at the forum were very interested in what they saw. Dr. Abdulaziz Alrifi, a leader at KAIMRC — a major Saudi health research center — said top investment firms expressed a willingness to invest more than $120 million in biotech companies from the event. The United States sent the most companies, with eight teams competing. Saudi Arabia came in second with four companies, followed by South Korea, the United Kingdom, Australia, France, Germany, and Switzerland.

The competition was divided into five rounds, called heats, each focused on a different area of science. In the AI and bio data heat, companies used artificial intelligence and computer modeling to find new medicines. One Saudi company, LinusBio MENA, used hair samples to look for health clues called biomarkers. These technologies can help doctors find and treat diseases faster than ever before.

The vaccine and biomanufacturing heat featured a Saudi company with a vaccine for MERS-CoV, a dangerous virus. A French company showed a 3D platform that can grow biological medicines without using animals. An Australian company shared an RNA therapy — a cutting-edge treatment using genetic instructions to fight disease — and plans to set up research in Saudi Arabia.

The cellular therapy and gene editing heat featured some of the most advanced science at the event. A U.S. company called CellKure shared early results from a treatment that uses a patient's own immune cells to fight a blood cancer called acute myeloid leukemia. A South Korean company showed a method to deliver cancer-fighting instructions directly into cells inside the body. A Saudi company called Medixcel is working to bring these powerful therapies to patients within the Kingdom.

Other heats covered bioengineering, synthetic biology, diagnostics, and drug discovery. One Swiss company is developing tiny particles to treat a rare muscle disease called Pompe disease. A U.S. company presented tiny carbon particles that can cross into the brain to deliver treatments. A UK company showed a new way to attack cancer that targets two weak points at once, helping overcome drug resistance.

Judges asked tough questions about how these ideas would move from the lab to real patients. They wanted to know about safety testing, manufacturing costs, and how companies planned to build facilities inside Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has a national plan to grow its own biotech industry instead of only buying medicines from other countries. That plan aims to add $34.6 billion to its non-oil economy by the year 2040.

Four companies also won special category awards at LSIF 2026. CellKure won Most Scalable Biotech Startup, Quantabia won Outstanding Founding Team, Swaza won Breakthrough Science, and Agemica won Innovation Excellence. These awards recognize different strengths, from strong science to great leadership. The full summit produced about $1.47 billion in agreements over its three days, a much larger figure than the $120 million tied to the pitch competition alone.