Forbes Names Ossium Health a 2026 Next Billion-Dollar Startup

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Jul 28, 2026–

Ossium Health, a bioengineering company that built the world’s first bank of organ donor-derived bone marrow, has been named to the 2026 Forbes Next Billion-Dollar Startups list, Forbes’ annual selection of 20 fast-growing U.S. companies it considers most likely to reach a $1 billion valuation.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260728583386/en/

Produced by Forbes for the twelfth consecutive year, the list is selected from startups that are venture-backed, based in the United States, and currently valued at less than $1 billion. Of the 275 companies named to the list since its inception, 60% have gone on to become unicorns.

“This recognition reflects the value of the platform we’ve built and the scale of the problem it addresses,” said Kevin Caldwell, CEO, Co-Founder & President of Ossium Health. “Thousands of patients each year never reach transplant because no donor is available in the timeframe their disease allows. Our bank removes this wait from the critical path. As our bone marrow becomes more widely available over the next year, we expect to serve more patients and narrow the donor availability gap.”

Ossium has now treated 28 patients, and in every case the company’s marrow took hold and began producing healthy white blood cells in the recipient, a critical milestone known as neutrophil engraftment.

About Ossium Health

Ossium Health is a bioengineering company that leverages its proprietary organ donor bone marrow banking platform to develop stem cell therapies for patients with life-threatening hematologic conditions and musculoskeletal defects. Founded in 2016, the company is led by Kevin Caldwell, CEO, Co-Founder & President, and Erik Woods, Chief Science Officer, Co-Founder & Executive Vice President. Ossium’s manufacturing facility is registered with the FDA and its laboratory is certified under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA). For more information, visit ossiumhealth.com or follow the company on LinkedIn and X.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Toronto pitcher Shane Bieber’s start against the Washington Nationals was anything but a walk in the park.

The former Cy Young Award winner issued walks to six of the nine batters he faced — including three with the bases loaded — before departing after two-thirds of an inning Tuesday night in the Blue Jays’ 8-6 loss. In his previous 149 pitching appearances, the 31-year-old right-hander’s high for walks was five.

According to Stathead/Baseball Reference, Bieber is the 11th pitcher in major league history to walk at least six while recording two outs or less, and the first to do so since Florida’s Ryan Dempster on Oct. 5, 2001, at Atlanta.

Bieber said he had difficulty gripping the ball and struggled with his command as a result. Bieber didn’t walk anyone in his previous start Thursday, when he allowed one run in seven innings against Tampa Bay.

“You have to find a way to get through it, right, and I wasn’t able to do that tonight,” Bieber said. “Ultimately, I follow up what was maybe my best start as a Blue Jay with what was definitely my worst.”

Bieber is the first Cy Young winner to have such an outing, although Hall of Famers Bob Feller and Christy Mathewson did, too. Bieber won the AL Cy Young in 2020.

Bieber threw 42 pitches, with only 15 strikes. He is the second player this season to throw that many pitches with so few strikes. Kansas City’s Eric Cerantola threw 14 strikes in a 42-pitch relief outing against Tampa Bay on June 30.

“I have no excuses,” Bieber said. “I have to find a way to get out of that first inning. Dry my hands off and change shirts and eat up innings after that. That’s what I was trying to do and unfortunately I wasn’t able to. I don’t think I’ve ever had anything like that happen.”

Washington’s James Wood led off the first with a walk, and Luis García Jr. followed with a grounder to second. Dylan Crews then earned a free pass, and CJ Abrams followed with a well-placed infield single.

The typically free-swinging Keibert Ruiz followed with a four-pitch walk that scored the first run, and Daylen Lile drew another walk that pushed in another run. Nasim Nuñez hit a sacrifice fly before Jorbit Vivas loaded the bases again with the inning’s fifth walk, prompting a mound visit from Toronto pitching coach Pete Walker.

Jacob Young then took six pitches — three balls and then two called strikes followed by a slider well outside the zone — to force in a fourth run. That prompted manager John Schneider to head to the mound and end Bieber’s outing.

It was Bieber’s seventh start of the season after missing almost three months with elbow inflammation. He was limited to a combined nine regular-season starts over the previous two seasons after undergoing Tommy John surgery in April 2024.

“Kind of just the last thing we thought was going to happen with him right there,” Schneider said. “When you get up to that pitch count in the first, with him, with his history and everything, just didn’t want to push it.”

Reliever Brendon Little got Wood to ground out to end the inning.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb