Sonia Aims to Prevent the Immune System’s Self-Destructive Attacks
December 16, 2024
BY RASMUS ERIKSEN
When the immune system goes haywire, millions of people are afflicted with severe diseases. A breakthrough by researchers at Aarhus University may be on the horizon. They have founded the biotech company STANT to bring their discovery from the lab to patients worldwide.
Imagine your body’s own defence system turning against you.
This is the reality for millions of people living with diseases such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and autoimmune disorders that cause chronic inflammation.
Now, researchers from Aarhus University have not only found the key to transforming the treatment of these diseases – they have also founded the biotech company STANT to deliver solutions to patients.
“We can stop the immune system’s destructive cycle, not just alleviate the symptoms. This holds great potential for helping people who currently have few or no treatment options,” says Sonia Assil, researcher and co-founder of STANT.
Switching Off the Alarm
Together with Professor Søren Riis Paludan, both from the Department of Biomedicine, Sonia Assil has spearheaded the research that now underpins this spinout from Aarhus University.
The duo has uncovered a previously unknown mechanism in the regulation of the immune system’s STING signalling pathway.
In healthy bodies, this pathway acts as a sentinel, sounding the alarm when harmful DNA is detected. However, in patients with autoimmune diseases, the alarm spirals out of control. It remains active continuously, triggering a domino effect of inflammation and tissue damage.
“Our goal is to halt this mechanism. With a new type of precision medicine, we are working on a treatment that can ‘switch off’ the alarm and restore balance to the immune system,” explains Sonia Assil.
Vast Potential
The demand is immense. Many diseases influenced by the STING pathway, including Parkinson’s, are rapidly increasing globally. Parkinson’s alone affects 10 million people worldwide and is the fastest-growing neurological disease.
STANT has already made a strong start, securing investments from First Fund, a Dutch venture capital firm focusing on life sciences, and BOM, a fund specialising in early-stage medical companies.
With these initial investments, the spinout is intensively working to further develop the technology so it can quickly benefit patients.
Progress has accelerated in a short time, and Aarhus University has played a pivotal role in bringing the scientific insights to market, Sonia Assil remarks.
“The university has been a crucial partner. We’ve had access to a business developer with expertise in market validation and investments, as well as legal support. I also took the initiative as a young researcher to join the university’s entrepreneurial hub, The Kitchen, to enhance my business skills,” the researcher explains.
She emphasises that acquiring the right tools to navigate as an academic entrepreneur has been invaluable. Both research and entrepreneurship demand many of the same skills, such as multitasking, effective communication, and meeting deadlines.
“I needed to strengthen my commercial understanding to advance the idea,” adds Sonia Assil.
The further development of the technology will continue in collaboration between STANT and the Department of Biomedicine at Aarhus University.
Facts about STANT
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