Expedition Medicines Named A ‘Fierce 15’ Company Of 2026
Expedition Medicines, a Flagship Pioneering company advancing generative covalent chemistry to expand the boundaries of medicine, today announced it has been named one of Fierce Biotech’s ‘Fierce 15’ companies of 2026. The annual list recognizes the most promising early-stage biotechnology companies in the industry.
“Being honored alongside this year’s Fierce 15 reflects Expedition’s progress on one of drug discovery’s most stubborn problems: 80% of disease-linked proteins have no medicines that target them. We have built the platform to change that,” said Alec Reynolds, President and CEO of Expedition Medicines and Senior Partner, Flagship Pioneering. “Our outstanding team is innovating generative covalent small molecule design and advancing multiple programs in immunology and oncology against major targets that have yet to be drugged by anyone else.”
The vast majority of disease-linked proteins have no medicines that target them, largely because they lack the deep pockets that conventional small molecules need to bind. Rather than searching for pockets, Expedition creates molecules that selectively form a permanent bond directly with features on a protein’s surface. Expedition’s reaction-first paradigm, based on innovations in library design and chemo-proteomic screening, has already yielded starting points to over 300 previously undrugged targets along with more than a billion small molecule-protein engagement datapoints. Combining this vast amount of data with quantum chemistry AI is enabling the next wave of starting points against currently undrugged proteins.
Founded by Flagship Pioneering in 2022, Expedition is built on the principle that the ability to lock a covalent medicine onto a target is governed by the physics of electrons. Trained on over a billion real covalent-chemistry measurements and grounded in quantum physics, Expedition’s generative AI designs the electronic ‘fingerprint’ that engages a target, then generates the molecule that carries it. Expedition has strengthened the platform through its research collaboration with Microsoft Research and its work with NVIDIA to scale the quantum chemistry behind its generative model.
The company is advancing pipeline programs that span multiple sought-after targets in oncology and immune diseases, including a multi-target exploration agreement with Pfizer. The two most advanced immunology programs target a master regulator and a key transcription factor of immune signaling central to many inflammatory and autoimmune conditions.
Each year, Fierce Biotech celebrates the 15 ‘fiercest’ companies championing innovation and creativity in the biotechnology industry, even in the face of intense competition. To see this year’s full list of honorees, read here.