IBIO TECH is one of the seven start-ups in the Business Acceleration Academy. During the past three months, the team has been focusing on building a solid, initial business case around their science.

The company is founded by Associate Professor, Kira Astakhova, from DTU. She has partnered with CEO and Business Developer, Daniel Zalomajev, CTO Sangita Khatri, Project Manager Lisa Jaunet and Clinical Developer Tue Wenzel Kragstrup.

We had a talk with the founder Kira Astakhova to learn more about IBIO TECH and the science which she has been working on for the past eight years.

What problem do you solve?
Over 1% of the world population has rheumatoid arthritis. In Scandinavia, an astonishing 8% of the population is at risk of getting the disease. 50% of the patients develop permanent physical disability within 2-5 years after the disease onset and current drugs have severe side effects due to the mode of action that blocks vital cytokines. Moreover, over 20% of all rheumatoid arthritis patients do not respond to the treatment.

How do you approach the treatment differently?
Our compound works in earlier stages of the disease and we work with targeted therapy which means there are fewer to no side effects. Our lead candidate is designed to reach synovial fluid and bind the ACPA antibodies at the site of inflammation. By doing so we can lower the dose of drugs.

What has it been like to be part of the BAA program?
We have learned a lot about planning product development, and we have focused on how to make an effective transfer of a research project into the technology in development. We have also realized what it takes from a regulatory perspective, learned how to work with marketing and much more. It has been a great experience to be part of BII and the Business Acceleration Academy.

Connect with them here

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