PEPTOMYC SL

Their core work

Peptomyc is a Barcelona-based clinical-stage biotech company developing peptide-based cancer therapies that target the Myc oncogene — a protein long considered "undruggable" that drives tumor growth in the majority of human cancers. Their core technology involves cell-penetrating mini-proteins designed to block Myc activity inside cancer cells, an approach they have advanced from feasibility research into clinical development with their lead compound OMO-103. Through H2020 SME Instrument funding, they progressed from proof-of-concept to active market entry, positioning OMO-103 as a potential first-in-class Myc inhibitor. Their work sits at the intersection of peptide chemistry, oncology, and clinical translation — turning a fundamental cancer biology insight into a therapeutic asset.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Peptomyc's H2020 trajectory is a textbook SME Instrument progression: PEPTO1 in 2016 was a short, low-budget feasibility study establishing whether their recombinant peptide approach could work at all — no detailed keywords were attached because the work was still exploratory. By 2019, with MYCure, the focus had sharpened dramatically into three specific pillars: Myc inhibition, cell-penetrating mini-proteins, and lung cancer as a target indication. This shift from broad "cancer + peptides" to a named molecule (OMO-103), a named target (Myc), and a named indication (lung cancer) signals a company that successfully validated its platform and is now executing a focused clinical and commercial strategy.

Peptomyc is moving from research-stage peptide science toward clinical-stage biotech, with a named compound in development — future collaborations will likely center on clinical trials, pharma partnerships, or licensing rather than basic research.

How they like to work

Peptomyc operates exclusively as a project coordinator and has done so in both of their H2020 projects, using the SME Instrument pathway which is designed for single-company, company-led innovation. They recorded zero consortium partners across both projects, which is consistent with the SME Instrument structure rather than a preference for isolation. Working with them likely means engaging them as the technology owner and lead, rather than as a member of a broader consortium.

Peptomyc has no recorded H2020 consortium partners — both projects were executed under the SME Instrument, which funds companies directly without requiring multi-partner consortia. Their collaborative network in the H2020 data is therefore not visible, though their clinical development activities almost certainly involve academic medical centers and CROs outside the H2020 framework.

What sets them apart

Peptomyc occupies a rare niche: they are one of very few companies in Europe with a clinical-stage Myc inhibitor, attacking a target that the pharma industry has pursued unsuccessfully for decades. Their cell-penetrating mini-protein platform is differentiated from small-molecule and antibody approaches, and their Barcelona base connects them to one of Europe's strongest biomedical research ecosystems. For consortium builders, they bring a proprietary oncology asset and clinical-translation experience that few SMEs in their size range can offer.

Highlights from their portfolio

• MYCure
  A €2.2M SME Phase 2 award to advance OMO-103 — a first-in-class Myc inhibitor — toward market, representing one of the few EU-funded efforts to clinically prosecute the Myc oncogene target.
• PEPTO1
  The €50,000 SME Phase 1 feasibility study that validated Peptomyc's peptide platform and directly enabled the much larger MYCure investment three years later — a clear example of the SME Instrument working as intended.