The company was founded by Medicxi and raised $250 million in an oversubscribed Series A financing led by General Atlantic and co-led by Vida Ventures and Janus Henderson Investors. Contessa is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.

Centessa's subsidiaries are comprised of: ApcinteX, Capella BioScience, Janpix, LockBody, Morphogen-IX, Orexia Therapeutics (a spin-off of Japan’s Sosei), Palladio Biosciences, PearlRiver Bio, Pega-One and Z Factor.

The current Centessa Pharmaceuticals portfolio consists of four clinical stage programs, including two that are in late-stage clinical development, and more than 10 additional programs spanning diseases with high unmet need across oncology, hematology, immunology, inflammation, neuroscience and rare diseases.