Supercharging the Brain’s Cleanup Crew: How Owl Therapeutics Is Helping the Brain’s Unsung Heroes Clean Up Harmful Cellular Debris
Led by an experienced team of scientists and clinicians, Owl Therapeutics is pioneering a new approach to Alzheimer’s disease and traumatic brain injury by supercharging microglia, the brain’s immune cells. With generative AI-engineered drugs, biomarker-powered precision, and a clear path to clinical impact, the StartUp Health community member is poised to transform how we treat neurodegeneration.
By Nicole Kinsey
The Challenge: Rewiring Brain Health Through Microglial Repair
Despite decades of effort, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and traumatic brain injuries (TBI) remain some of the most stubborn and tragic conditions in modern medicine. Today, there are still no treatments that definitively stop or reverse neurodegeneration. CEO William Haskins, PhD, and his co-founders at Owl Therapeutics are confronting this challenge head-on by targeting an unsung hero in brain health: microglia, the brain’s immune cells responsible for clearing harmful cellular debris, synaptic pruning, and maintaining neurological balance.
What Owl is tackling is simple in concept but revolutionary in implication — the deterioration of microglial function due to injury, infection, aging, or disease. When this cleanup crew falters, waste builds up, inflammation spreads, and neurodegeneration accelerates.
The team’s mission? Help the brain repair itself. More precisely, Owl is developing drugs to supercharge microglia so they can continue their essential housekeeping duties even in the face of neurodegenerative threats like AD and TBI.
Origin Story: From Blood Biomarkers to Biopharma Breakthroughs
Owl Therapeutics is a spinout of Gryphon Bio, where Dr. Haskins and his team previously made headlines for helping to pioneer the first FDA-cleared blood test for TBI. Through years of work at the intersection of diagnostics and neuroscience, the team uncovered a powerful insight: AD and TBI aren’t isolated phenomena — they’re biologically linked by shared pathways of cellular damage and inflammation.
That insight became a catalyst. With thousands of patient samples, proprietary assays, and cutting-edge proteomic data at their fingertips, Gryphon launched Owl Therapeutics as a generative AI- and biomarker-powered biopharma company focused on supercharging microglia.
For Dr. Haskins, the work is deeply personal. His grandmother lived with AD, and he himself survived a TBI after high school. That connection, paired with years at Genentech and other leading-edge biotech companies in the San Francisco Bay area, gave him the technical drive and sense of urgency needed to pursue a moonshot in brain health.
Under the Hood: A Precision Platform to Restore the Brain’s Balance
At its core, Owl Therapeutics is building novel neurotherapeutics using a trifecta of generative AI, biofluid biomarkers, and compelling insights on microglial biology.
What sets Owl apart is its unique approach to restoring microglial function, rather than chasing conventional targets like amyloid plaques. By enhancing the brain’s immune cells — the microglia — Owl is tackling the root cause of neuroinflammation and debris accumulation. These drugs are not just discovered faster using generative AI; they are designed to be safer, more effective, and entirely novel. Owl’s genAI tools enable the creation of small and large molecule drugs, including monoclonal antibodies and fusion proteins with improved microglial engagement and cyclic peptides with improved selectivity and reduced toxicity.
Equally important is Owl’s diagnostic advantage. Building on its Gryphon Bio origins, the company integrates proprietary biomarkers into every stage of drug development: from preclinical studies to human trials. This allows for precision targeting — selecting the right patients at the right time for the right drug — and precision readouts for drug efficacy, dramatically improving the likelihood of clinical success.
The ultimate patient experience is intentionally simple: a subcutaneous infusion administered every six months, offering a practical and sustainable way to support long-term brain health.
What’s Next: From TBI to AD and Beyond
While Owl already has a TBI therapeutic with an open IND (investigational new drug) for a Phase 2 trial, its AD pipeline is where investor interest is converging. Owl plans to launch a Series A fundraise to move its AD candidates from preclinical studies to human clinical trials. Over the next three years, the goal is clear: bring the first disease-modifying treatment (DMT) for supercharging microglia to AD clinical trials.
The implications are vast. If Owl succeeds, physicians will finally have a therapy that not only slows cognitive decline but directly supports the brain’s ability to heal itself. Patients will receive targeted treatments with the confidence of FDA-backed diagnostics. And the scientific fields of TBI and AD — once siloed — will find a common language through Owl’s innovations.
Final Thoughts: A New Era for Brain Health
Owl Therapeutics is more than a biotech startup — they are on a brain health moonshot powered by purpose, data, and cutting-edge technology. Its founders are betting big on a simple but powerful idea: clear the debris, heal the brain.
We are excited to have Owl Therapeutics join our Alzheimer’s Moonshot Community as they prepare for their Series A and chart a new course in neurodegenerative disease treatment.
As Dr. Haskins puts it, “We’re building new medicines to help your brain take out the trash.” And with every discovery, trial, and breakthrough, Owl moves closer to a future where that trash no longer buries the lives and memories of millions.
Connect with Owl Therapeutics via email
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Published: Jun 13, 2025
