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May 2026Keylika said it was hacked; emails were down and the website was gone, indicating a temporary operational disruption.
SourceRedefining the Standard of Care for Iron Deficiency Anemia
Company research
Public company, workplace, funding, and market signals
Updated Jul 29, 2026
Overview
Keylika is a Walnut Creek biotech/biopharma startup building metal-based drug discovery plus delivery technology, best known for an iron-deficiency patch intended to deliver iron through the cheek/skin and avoid GI side effects and IV-infusion drawbacks.
Primary product
NistuFe / Riron, a wearable iron patch for iron deficiency anemia (IDA)
Founded
2022
Headquarters
Walnut Creek, California, United States
Team size
1-10
Industry
Biotechnology
Sub-industry
Drug discovery and drug delivery; metallodrug therapeutics
Offices
Walnut Creek, California, United States (HQ)
Belgium (distributed team presence)
Business model
biopharma R&D
drug delivery platform
pharma partnership / licensing
Funding
Stage
seed
Total raised
$500K
Latest round
Seed · Aug 2022
Latest amount
$500K
Aug 2022 · Y Combinator
People & investors
Investors
Work & culture
Founder-led, science-heavy, stealthy, and scrappy; public posts emphasize patient impact, sustainability, and a default-alive/bootstrapped mindset.
Product & market
Differentiators
- —Self-administrable patch rather than a pill or infusion
- —Bypasses the gastrointestinal tract to reduce GI side effects
- —Aims to combine oral convenience with IV-like efficacy
- —Platform may extend beyond iron to peptides and hormones
- —Preclinical animal proof-of-concept has been reported
Technology
AI-enabled de novo drug design
nanotechnology-based transdermal delivery
mixed-ligand metal complex synthesis
buccal delivery
microsystems engineering
organometallic drug design
Customers
iron deficiency anemia patients
women of child-bearing age with menorrhagia
patients who cannot tolerate oral iron
biopharma partners in hematology
Competitors
Vaxxas
scPharmaceuticals
BioSapien
Crossject
Valeritas
CeQur
Scale & contact
Signals & risks
Latest news
LinkedIn post · Jun 2026
Keylika says Riron delivers 45 mg of elemental iron in under 10 minutes through the cheek and frames the product in terms of carbon-footprint reduction.
Entrepreneur APAC · Apr 2025
Profiles Keylika’s buccal patch, KEYPaxtek™, preclinical evidence, and the company’s Bakar Labs acceptance.
Arabian Business · Apr 2025
Covers Keylika’s buccal patch approach, KEYPaxtek™, preclinical hamster results, Bakar Labs involvement, and potential pharma partnerships.
LinkedIn post · Oct 2024
Company announcement that Keylika closed its first pilot deal with a major hematology biopharma company to advance its buccal iron delivery.
IBTimes · Apr 2024
Early coverage of Keylika’s iron patch concept, founding team, and preclinical progress toward clinical testing.
Jobs and careers at Keylika
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