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Autism Spectrum Disorder: two biotech companies racing to a treatment

Neurology & PsychiatryConcentrated betData as of 2026-09-04

Competitors2in the clinic
Median market cap$2.8Buniverse median $1.20B
Allocated capital$1.9B$5.7B competing
Phase 3 or filed02 mid, 0 early
Pure plays0this indication only
Capital rank104/299crowding rank 85

Autism Spectrum Disorder is a two-horse race: Definium Therapeutics (DFTX, $5.1B) against MapLight Therapeutics (MPLT, $560M).

A duopoly prices differently from an empty field. Each company is the other's comparable, so a readout from either side repositions both, and $1.9B of allocated capital sits on the pair.

DFTX alone accounts for 90% of the $5.7B of market capitalisation competing here, so this is a leader plus a tail rather than a level race.

$1.9B of allocated capital sits in Autism Spectrum Disorder, ranking it 104th of 299 indications by the money committed to it.

Companies developing drugs for Autism Spectrum Disorder 2

TickerCompanyLead assetPhaseTrialsMarket capPure playIndicationsNext catalyst
DFTXDefinium TherapeuticsDT402Phase 21$5.1BNo3 30 Sep 2026
MPLTMapLight TherapeuticsML-004Phase 21$560MNo3 31 Dec 2026

Sorted by phase, then by market capitalisation. Ticker links open the company profile. DFTX holds 90% of the $5.7B competing in this indication.

Why Autism Spectrum Disorder is a concentrated bet

Few competitors, each one large. The market pays a scarcity premium to compete here.

The map splits indications on two folds: six or more competitors counts as crowded, and a median company above $1.20B counts as richly priced. Autism Spectrum Disorder has 2 competitors and a median of $2.8B.

Neurology & Psychiatry

Neurology & Psychiatry holds $120B of the map's capital, 17.9% of the total, spread across 46 indications and 58 companies. 19 of those indications have more than one company competing.

See every Neurology & Psychiatry indication on the map

Related indications in Neurology & Psychiatry

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Autism Spectrum Disorder pipeline questions

Which biotech companies are developing drugs for Autism Spectrum Disorder?

Definium Therapeutics (DFTX, DT402, Phase 2); MapLight Therapeutics (MPLT, ML-004, Phase 2). Those are the 2 US-listed developers in the $100M to $20B market cap band with a clinical-stage programme in Autism Spectrum Disorder.

How advanced is the Autism Spectrum Disorder pipeline?

Of the 2 clinical-stage programmes in Autism Spectrum Disorder, 0 are in Phase 3 or filed, 2 are in mid-stage development and 0 are in early-stage development.

Which company leads the Autism Spectrum Disorder field?

DFTX is the largest developer in Autism Spectrum Disorder, holding 90% of the $5.7B of market capitalisation competing in the indication. The median competitor is worth $2.8B.

When is the next Autism Spectrum Disorder catalyst?

The next dated catalyst in Autism Spectrum Disorder is DFTX on 30 Sep 2026. 2 dated events across the field fall in the next 12 months.

How this page is built

  • Universe is US-listed drug developers with a $100M to $20B market capitalisation, identified by SEC SIC code 2833, 2834 or 2836 or by a pharmaceutical or biotechnology industry classification, less a reviewed exclusion list of contract research organisations, device and diagnostics makers and diversified generics manufacturers.
  • An asset attributed to three or more different companies is treated as shared standard of care rather than any one company’s programme and excluded. Pembrolizumab alone appears under 21 tickers in raw trial data.
  • A programme counts only where at least one industry-sponsored trial supports it, so investigator-initiated academic studies of third-party drugs are excluded.

Allocated capital divides each company’s market capitalisation evenly across the indications it is running clinical programmes in, so every dollar of the universe is counted exactly once. Total market capitalisation competing counts a company in each of its indications and therefore sums to more than the universe.

Third-party market size estimates are not used anywhere on this page. Approved incumbents are excluded from competitor counts, and companies above $20B are outside the universe by construction.

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