How women-led biotechs are reshaping the sector

There is a strange contradiction at the heart of the biotechnology sector. Women are still under-represented in top jobs, and yet some of its most exciting breakthroughs are coming from companies founded or led by women. From cancer immunotherapy to AI-powered drug discovery and fresh hope for innovation in mental health, women-led businesses are rewriting what is possible. In this article, we are putting a few of them in the spotlight: who they are, why their work matters, and why the industry has every reason to get more women into leadership. 

Why diversity drives better science 

Let’s start with the numbers, because they tell a striking story. Progress on women in leadership has not just stalled, it has practically stood still. The BioIndustry Association found that women hold just 18.7% of biotech CEO roles, barely a nudge on the year before. Funding follows a similar pattern. The share of capital going to female-led companies rose to 15% in 2025, up from 8%, which sounds like good news until you dig a little deeper. Almost all of it came from just three big deals. Take those away and the figure slumps to around 6%. 

None of this is new. Analysis cited by V-Bio Ventures shows that women founders have long secured only a sliver of available venture funding, even though the evidence says mixed teams tend to perform better. One much-quoted study found that startups with a woman on the founding team brought in roughly twice the revenue for every dollar invested compared to all-male ones. The business case, in other words, is not exactly subtle. 

So this isn’t just about fairness, though fairness matters a lot. Diverse teams ask different questions, notice different risks, and design trials that work for more kinds of people. Leave half the population out of the room, and you shrink the pool of ideas the whole sector draws on. Our own Women in Leadership research points the same way, and the bigger picture is sobering: at the current rate, full gender parity is still more than a century off. 

Women-led biotechs making waves 

Immunocore 

Immunocore, led by CEO Bahija Jallal, has built an entirely new type of cancer immunotherapy around T cell receptors. Its lead medicine, KIMMTRAK, made history as the first treatment of its kind approved anywhere, and the first ever approved for metastatic uveal melanoma, a rare and aggressive eye cancer that used to leave patients with almost nowhere to turn. It is now available in dozens of countries and brought in around 400 million dollars last year. 

Insitro 

Founded and led by AI pioneer Daphne Koller, Insitro is on a mission to take some of the guesswork out of drug discovery. Rather than testing molecules and crossing fingers, it uses machine learning trained on vast biological datasets to work out which disease targets are actually worth pursuing. It is an approach that has won the backing of pharma giants Eli Lilly and Bristol Myers Squibb, with programs across metabolic disease and neuroscience. 

Draig Therapeutics 

Over in Cardiff, Wales, Draig Therapeutics is developing treatments for neuropsychiatric conditions, beginning with major depressive disorder. Co-founded by Ruth McKernan and now led by CEO Ivana Magovčević-Liebisch, the company pulled off one of the standout raises of 2025: a landmark 140 million dollar Series A, secured in a year when funding was hard to come by. Its lead candidate is already in a Phase 2 trial. Proof, if it were needed, that women-led science is winning serious investor confidence even when the market turns nervous. 

How we can better support women-led biotechs 

Wins like these deserve a mention, but they should not be rare enough to feel remarkable. Closing the gap will take more than just recognition. It means we need to see fairer access to funding for female founders, more women on boards and in the C-suite, hiring that opens doors rather than quietly closing them, and mentorship that helps good people rise instead of stall. 

As a woman-led business ourselves, this one matters to us. The evidence keeps saying the same thing: diverse leadership sparks better ideas and stronger results. Backing women in biotech is not a nice-to-have. It is one of the smartest moves the industry can make if it wants to keep innovation coming. 

If you are working in biotech and looking for your next role, or you’re looking to expand your team, feel free to contact us today. Our industry experts will be able to get the process started for you.