LEUKOS BIOTECH SL

Their core work

Leukos Biotech is a Barcelona-based biotech SME focused on blood cancer — specifically Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) — working across two complementary directions: early diagnostic tools and cancer stem cell therapeutics. Their first EU project aimed to develop a blood test for AML detection and prognosis, a market-facing product concept; their second moved into therapeutic discovery, targeting cancer stem cells through serotonin receptor pathways, a scientifically specific mechanism with potential for new drug classes. As a small company that independently coordinates EU-funded research programs rather than joining others' consortia, they combine entrepreneurial drive with genuine scientific focus. Their work is relevant to oncology drug developers, diagnostic companies, and academic groups working on AML or cancer stem cell biology.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Leukos Biotech began with a commercially oriented diagnostics concept — SeroStrat (2018) was an SME Phase 1 feasibility grant, the type used to validate a business idea before product development, centered on a blood-based AML detection test. By 2021, their focus had shifted toward foundational therapeutic research: StemTarget introduced the concept of targeting cancer stem cells via serotonin receptors, a more mechanistic and pre-clinical angle that sits closer to drug discovery than to market-ready products. The shift suggests a pivot from near-term commercial diagnostics toward longer-horizon therapeutic science, while remaining firmly within hematological oncology throughout.

Leukos Biotech is moving deeper into cancer stem cell biology and serotonin receptor-targeted therapy, pointing toward future collaboration in oncology drug discovery, target validation, and pre-clinical AML research rather than diagnostics commercialization.

How they like to work

Leukos Biotech has coordinated both of their H2020 projects independently — they initiate and lead programs rather than joining as consortium members. With zero recorded CORDIS consortium partners across both projects, they appear to operate as a self-contained research unit or work with collaborators outside the formal consortium structure. This pattern is typical of early-stage biotechs running focused, PI-driven programs; potential partners should expect to engage them as scientific leads, not as execution partners within a larger consortium.

Leukos Biotech has no recorded consortium partners in the CORDIS database, meaning their H2020 participation has been entirely self-coordinated with no formally tracked collaborating organizations. Their CORDIS footprint is Spain-only, with no evidence of cross-border partnerships from the available data.

What sets them apart

Leukos Biotech holds a specific and uncommon niche: a Spanish SME actively pursuing a serotonin receptor mechanism as a therapeutic lever against cancer stem cells in leukemia — a hypothesis with genuine scientific novelty that is not widely represented among European biotechs. Their dual track in both diagnostics (SeroStrat blood test) and targeted therapeutics (StemTarget) makes them potentially interesting to partners across the discovery-to-detection pipeline. As a small company that independently drives EU research programs, they offer focused scientific leadership without the overhead or competing agendas of a large institution.

Highlights from their portfolio

• StemTarget
  A MSCA Individual Fellowship hosted by an SME — rare in itself — targeting cancer stem cells through serotonin receptors, combining an unconventional mechanism with a high-value oncology target in a program running 2021–2023.
• SeroStrat
  An SME Phase 1 feasibility grant for a blood-based diagnostic test for AML early detection, representing the commercial diagnostics strand of Leukos Biotech's work and their earliest EU-funded validation effort.