All-Female Biotech Team Defies a 3% Funding Barrier to Bring a Smarter Arthritis Drug to Clinical Trials
Amsterdam, Wednesday, 27 May 2026.
In a sector where less than 3% of European venture capital reaches female-founded companies, Amplio Pharma’s all-women leadership team has secured the funding needed to advance NovoBioJect — a reimagined combination therapy for rheumatoid arthritis — into clinical trials.
A Medicine Story, Not Just a Startup Story
This is, at its core, a medicine story — specifically, a story about red biotech, the branch of biotechnology focused on medical applications and human health [GPT]. Amplio Pharma is developing NovoBioJect, a combination therapy that pairs the well-established rheumatoid arthritis drug methotrexate with novobiocine, with the goal of increasing treatment efficacy at lower dosages [1]. Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic autoimmune disease that affects the joints, and methotrexate has long served as a first-line treatment — yet its effectiveness varies considerably across patients due to genetic differences in how they metabolize the drug [GPT]. Amplio Pharma’s approach is to recast an existing drug as a pharmacokinetic enhancer, transiently mimicking the genetic polymorphisms that are associated with better clinical responses, thereby delivering a faster and more effective first-line treatment for patients [2]. This is not a molecule built from scratch. It is a scientifically informed reimagining of an existing therapy — and that distinction is central to the company’s entire philosophy [1].
How NovoBioJect Works
The scientific premise behind NovoBioJect is grounded in pharmacokinetics — the study of how drugs move through the body [GPT]. Some patients carry genetic variants, known as polymorphisms, that make them naturally more efficient at processing methotrexate, and therefore respond better to treatment [2]. Amplio Pharma’s innovation lies in using novobiocine as a pharmacokinetic enhancer that artificially and transiently replicates those favorable genetic conditions in patients who do not naturally carry them [2]. In practical terms, this means the combination therapy may allow more patients to benefit from methotrexate’s effects, potentially at lower doses and with fewer side effects [1][2]. To validate this mechanism at the cellular level, Amplio Pharma developed the innovation in collaboration with Prof. Dr. Robert de Jonge of Amsterdam UMC, who contributed an advanced measurement method capable of demonstrating NovoBioJect’s action at the cellular level [1]. This kind of academic-industry partnership is often critical in bridging the gap between laboratory hypothesis and clinical proof of concept [GPT].
From Sweden to the Netherlands: A Company That Had to Find Its Footing
Amplio Pharma was founded in 2020 in Sweden by Marguerite Mensonides, Charlott Brunmark, and Karin von Wachenfeldt — a fully female founding team, each bringing more than 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry [1][2]. The three co-founders identified a gap that they felt the industry was ignoring: rather than pursuing entirely new molecular entities, which the vast majority of the time never reach the market despite enormous investment, there was an underexplored opportunity in improving existing, proven drugs using new scientific insights [1]. However, the concept did not find sufficient traction in Sweden. As Mensonides has stated, the importance of future-proof healthcare “did not resonate sufficiently” in that environment [1]. In 2023, the company made a strategic pivot and relocated to the Netherlands [1]. The move proved to be a turning point. Once based in the Netherlands, Amplio Pharma secured investments from Libertatis Ergo Holding BV, Amsterdam UMC Ventures Holding, and the Innovatiefonds Noord-Holland [1]. These investors were drawn in part by the credibility lent to NovoBioJect by its collaboration with Amsterdam UMC [1].
ROM InWest Steps In, and a Broader Network Takes Shape
The company’s momentum accelerated further in the summer of 2025, when founder Marguerite Mensonides entered into conversations with Sara Schaafsma, an investment manager at ROM InWest — the regional development organization for the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area [1]. Those conversations led to both financial support and strategic guidance from ROM InWest, with the explicit aim of helping Amplio Pharma take its next steps toward clinical trials and strengthening the diversity of its consortium [1]. Janet Nieboer, CEO of ROM InWest, and Curtis Sprouse, Director of Strategy at ROM InWest, became part of that broadened network [1]. Mensonides has been candid about the structural headwinds her team has faced in securing this support: in Europe, less than 3% of venture capital goes to companies with female founders [1][2]. She has drawn a pointed analogy from chemistry — “like dissolves like” — to suggest that investment ecosystems may unconsciously favor founding profiles that mirror those already dominant in the funding world [1]. Despite that barrier, the team has succeeded in raising the venture capital needed to advance NovoBioJect into clinical trials, which Mensonides has described as “a gigantic success” [1].
Clinical Visibility and the Road Ahead
By May 2026, Amplio Pharma had gained meaningful visibility on the European life sciences stage. On May 18, 2026, Marguerite Mensonides participated as an industry expert in the third edition of the EP PerMed Round Table in Copenhagen, Denmark, organized by the European Partnership for Personalised Medicine [2]. The event brought together pharmaceutical innovators from across the Nordic and Baltic regions to discuss the challenges and best practices of implementing personalised medicine approaches at scale [2]. Fellow participants included Dr. Peeter Padrik, founder of Estonian cancer-screening company Antegenes; Niklas Sandler, PhD, founder and CTO of Finland-based CurifyLabs; and Daniel Ågren, personalised medicine implementation lead at Roche AB in Sweden [2]. Just one day later, on May 19, 2026, Mensonides appeared in the Biotech Showcase at the LSX Nordic Congress, where Amplio Pharma was represented in a dedicated 15-minute showcase slot [3]. At that event, Mensonides held the title of COO of Amplio Pharma [alert! ‘The EP PerMed source lists Mensonides as CEO, while the LSX Nordic agenda lists her as COO — the exact title and whether it changed between events cannot be confirmed from the available sources’] [2][3]. The back-to-back appearances across Copenhagen and the LSX Nordic Congress reflect a company that has moved well beyond its early-stage uncertainties and is now actively engaging with investors, clinicians, and policy stakeholders across Europe. As Mensonides summarized: Amplio Pharma has, by now, demonstrated that it has “staying power” [1].