Every year on June 8, World Brain Tumour Day shines a light on one of the most complex and challenging forms of cancer.
Established in 2000 by the German Brain Tumour Association, the day aims to raise awareness about brain tumours and the urgent need for better diagnosis, treatment, and patient support.
Brain tumours can be either benign or malignant. While not all tumours are life-threatening, even non-cancerous tumours can significantly affect a person’s quality of life, cognitive function, and overall health.
According to the Global Cancer Observatory (GLOBOCAN 2022), an estimated 321,624 new brain and central nervous system (CNS) cancer cases were diagnosed worldwide in 2022 alone.
Despite major advances in medicine, detecting brain tumours early and treating them effectively remains a difficult task.
The good news is that a growing number of startups are tackling neuro-oncology’s toughest problems. These innovators are pushing boundaries of how brain tumours are detected, monitored and treated.
To mark World Brain Tumour Day 2026, we are spotlighting seven startups helping reshape the future of brain cancer care.
But first, here’s how brain tumour treatment is evolving
For decades, brain tumour treatment has relied on three approaches: surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. While these remain the standard of care, researchers and startups are increasingly looking beyond these traditional methods.
AI is helping clinicians identify tumours more accurately from medical scans. Precision medicine approaches are enabling therapies tailored to specific tumour characteristics.
Also, innovations in targeted radiation, drug delivery, and non-invasive treatments are opening up new possibilities for patients with some of the hardest-to-treat brain cancers.
Here are seven companies driving that progress.
7 innovative startups working on brain tumour detection and treatment
1. Qynapse
Founders: Olivier Courrèges (a spin off from the CATI consortium of neuroimaging research laboratories)
Year: 2015 | Headquarters: Paris, France
Qynapse develops AI-powered neuroimaging tools designed to help clinicians better understand and monitor neurological diseases. Its flagship platform, QyScore, analyzes brain scans and provides quantitative insights that can support diagnosis and disease tracking.
By helping physicians interpret complex imaging data more efficiently, the company aims to improve decision-making across a range of brain disorders, including cancers affecting the central nervous system.
2. CNSide Diagnostics
Founders: Plus Therapeutics
Year: 2024 | Headquarters: Houston, Texas, USA
CNSide Diagnostics focuses on leptomeningeal metastases, an aggressive condition in which cancer spreads to the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).
Its CSF Assay technology isolates and analyses circulating tumour cells from cerebrospinal fluid, providing physicians with critical diagnostic information that is often difficult to obtain through conventional methods.
3. SonALAsense
Founders: Dr Stuart Marcus
Year: 2019 | Headquarters: Berkeley, California, USA
SonALAsense is developing a novel treatment approach called Sonodynamic Therapy (SDT), which combines focused ultrasound with its drug candidate SONALA-001.
The therapy is being explored for aggressive brain cancers such as glioblastoma and diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG). It selectively targets tumour cells while minimising damage to surrounding healthy tissue, potentially offering a less invasive treatment option for patients.
4. GammaTile Therapeutics
Founders: David G. Brachman, Heyoung McBride, Peter Nakaji, Emad Youssef, Theresa Thomas
Year: 2017 | Headquarters: Tempe, Arizona, United States
GammaTile Therapeutics developed GammaTile, an FDA-cleared radiation therapy platform designed for use immediately after brain tumour surgery.
The bioresorbable implant is placed directly into the tumour cavity during surgery, delivering radiation precisely where it is needed most. By targeting residual cancer cells at the surgical site, the technology aims to reduce recurrence while limiting exposure to healthy brain tissue.
5. Plus Therapeutics
Founders: Ralph E. Holmes and Christopher J. Calhoun
Year: 2004 | Headquarters: Austin and Houston, Texas, USA
Plus Therapeutics is developing targeted radiotherapeutics to effectively treat hard-to-treat cancers like glioblastoma and leptomeningeal metastasis.
Its lead platform, REYOBIQ™, is designed to deliver radiation directly to tumour sites, improving effectiveness while reducing exposure to healthy tissue. The company is focused on advancing precision approaches for cancers where treatment options remain limited.
6. Kazia Therapeutics
Founders: Graham Edmund Kelly
Year: 1994 | Headquarters: Sydney, Australia
Kazia Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology firm focused on developing treatments for brain cancers.
Its lead candidate, paxalisib, is designed to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and target the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signalling pathway, which plays a key role in tumour growth. The therapy is currently being tested in glioblastoma and several other forms of brain cancer.
7. Chimerix (acquired by Jazz Pharmaceuticals)
Founders: Dr George Painter, Dr Karl Hostetler, and Kevin Anderson
Year: 2000 | Headquarters: Durham, NC, USA
Chimerix is advancing the development of ONC201, a drug therapy being studied for use against H3 K27M-mutant diffuse midline gliomas, a rare and highly aggressive form of brain cancer.
The drug ONC201 has attracted significant attention within neuro-oncology due to its potential in patient populations with very limited treatment options. While research is ongoing, ONC201 represents one of several promising new approaches being explored for hard-to-treat brain tumours.
What comes next?
Brain cancer remains one of medicine’s most difficult frontiers. But innovation is making a difference.
AI-powered imaging tools are helping clinicians identify tumours earlier. Novel therapies are creating new treatment possibilities. Precision radiation technologies are improving targeting, while advances in drug delivery are helping therapies reach tumours more effectively.
There are several challenges, but the startups working in this space are making meaningful progress.
Bottom line
World Brain Tumour Day is ultimately about more than awareness. It’s about highlighting the researchers, clinicians, patients, and innovators working to improve outcomes for people living with brain cancer.
From AI diagnostics to next-generation therapeutics, these startups are tackling some of neuro-oncology’s biggest challenges. Their work offers a glimpse into a future where brain tumours can be detected earlier, monitored more accurately, and treated more effectively than ever before.
-By Shivam Sharma and the AHT Team
