Pluvia

Pluvia is a biotechnology company developing pharmacological chaperones, small molecules that bind to mutant proteins to stabilise them and restore enzymatic activity in loss-of-function diseases. Its lead candidate, PBAS499, targets phenylketonuria (PKU), a rare genetic disorder caused by mutations in the enzyme phenylalanine hydroxylase. The company intends to use its drug discovery platform to address other rare diseases caused by protein misfolding.

The company's target patients are people with rare genetic disorders, with PKU as the lead programme. It has no product revenue stated; development is funded by investors and grants, including a NOK 15.6 million Innovation Project for the Industrial Sector grant from the Research Council of Norway and a seed-extension round with investors including Sarsia, Investinor, Mid Atlantic Bio Angels and Tidligfasekapital Vestland. The National PKU Alliance also invested in the programme.

Pluvia was established in 2015 as a spin-out from the University of Bergen, Norway, and is headquartered in Bergen. PBAS499 holds orphan drug designations in the US and Europe. The company is preparing the candidate for an Investigational New Drug application and first-in-human studies, and announced Deborah Ramsdell as its new CEO in August 2026.

Product: PBAS499, a small-molecule pharmacological chaperone in preclinical development for phenylketonuria (PKU).