Founded 2022
Founders Rory Ryan, CEO Phil Haynes, CTO

PentaBind pioneers a novel drug modality: ‘drug-like’ aptamers. Combining AI, proprietary wet-lab processes, molecular modelling, and the largest aptamer dataset, its platform optimises stability, folding, affinity, and specificity to drive an in-house pipeline of aptamer drugs. Their revenue-generating subsidiary accelerates AI development through aptamer design services. PentaBind was shortlisted by Cancer Research UK as New Startup of the Year.


Founders

Rory
Ryan

CEO

Rory is a three-time founder with over a decade of experience in the aptamer industry. He cofounded the diagnostics company ZiO Health, where he led product and operations for 6 years before a successful buyout. He founded Valatoa, an M&A valuation SaaS platform that continues to operate successfully after seven years. Rory holds a First-Class degree in Engineering from the University of Leeds and a Master’s with Distinction from Imperial College Business School.

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Phil
Haynes

CTO

Phil has 9 years of drug discovery experience in aptamers and cancer therapeutics, and holds a PhD in Molecular Biophysics from UCL and Imperial. He has worked with AstraZeneca, the Francis Crick Institute, Bruker (Santa Barbara) and CERN (Geneva). He holds a First Class degree in Physics from the University of Exeter.

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