Apini Therapeutics

Apini Therapeutics is a preclinical-stage biotechnology company spun out of the University of Manchester in 2021. Founded by Professor Sam Butterworth, an inventor of the blockbuster cancer drug Tagrisso, the company focuses on developing novel small molecule therapeutics for chronic inflammatory diseases. Its lead program, SSTX-001 (also known as Apini), targets the pro-inflammatory activity of extracellular nicotinamide phosphoribosyltransferase (eNAMPT) to treat conditions such as Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, psoriasis, and cardiovascular disease without causing immunosuppression. In November 2024, Apini was launched as the inaugural program of Slingshot Therapeutics, a Syncona-backed accelerator, and subsequently secured seed funding from Northern Gritstone in 2025 to accelerate its development toward clinical trials.