Passion for immunology
Chronic skin diseases as the primary focus area stems from the expertise of Ahammune ’ s founders in this area . Both Dr Natarajan , a Professor at JNU , and Dr Parul Ganju have worked extensively on skin pigmentation and related disorders .
During their research , they had a chance to interact with several patients who were suffering from vitiligo . It made them realize while this was an intriguing scientific problem for them , its impact on patients was huge . That is when they decided to translate our scientific knowledge into treatments which could help these patients . As a result , Ahammune was set up in May 2016 .
“ People are often intrigued with the company ’ s name “ Ahammune ” which in fact is a combination of Sanskrit word “ Aham ” meaning self and immunity . The name symbolizes our efforts to develop treatments for autoimmune diseases , developed from India for the world and thus would fulfil the mandate of Atmanirbhar for indigenous , self-reliance for unmet drug need ,” says Dr Parul Ganju , Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer .
The company ’ s breakthrough innovations thus not only have the potential for financial gains , but also carry tremendous societal reward . The impact that these treatments will have on the lives of millions of people and their families suffering due to these lifelong conditions will be unprecedented .
Overcoming challenges
Covid times were extremely challenging for the entire
Dr . Parul Ganju , Co-founder & CEO , Ahammune Biosciences
Dr . Ganju has extensive experience in the area of dermatology with specialization in vitiligo pathophysiology . She holds a PhD in Skin Biology from National Institute of Immunology , Delhi and was a DST- Inspire Faculty at CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology ( CSIR-IGIB ).
Ahammune team , with tight fund flow and work constraints . But with the combined efforts of its team and well-wishers , they were able to outperform their own expectations under uncertain scenarios . With combined efforts , they filed their first IND application with DCGI and transitioned to a clinical phase company- a huge milestone for a startup company .
Sharing the journey , Parul says , “ When we first started , we were overwhelmed by the support that we got from the general public , who , even though unaware of the drug discovery process , were willing to take part in the clinical studies for the welfare of the patients . This also made us realize that we have a tremendous responsibility to deliver to the expectation of the people who are looking up to us for a solution to this unmet therapeutic need .”
As the drug discovery is a nascent field in India , finding investors for funding such high risk projects is a challenging task . Parul credits the right set of people who believed in the vision of the company and invested in it at the ideation stage .
She elaborates : “ Our early investors and Ahammune Board Members have been a huge support for us and have been guiding us with their valuable experience in both science and strategy . Besides them , the support from GoI through DBT-BIRAC not only helped in receiving high-level peer review , but the funds were a huge support for carrying out our science ”.
Affordability , Parul says , is the key to accessibility . “ The cost of drug development in India is one tenth the cost in the USA . Ahammune is leveraging this opportunity to bring new and cost-effective drugs to clinical trials . We envisage the drug to be in the Indian market by 2025 . The synthetic chemistry of AB1001 has also
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BioVoiceNews | October 2022