Published: 24 March 2026
Text: Anne-Marie Korseberg Stokke
Photo: Anne-Marie Korseberg Stokke
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Crohn’s disease is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease affecting a large number of people worldwide, with a clear increase among children and young people. Between 40 and 60 percent of patients experience that today’s standard treatment either does not work from the outset, or that its effect diminishes over time. This is often because the body develops resistance, leaving patients with reduced quality of life and few alternatives.
“We want to develop an entirely new type of treatment based on a fusion protein, meaning a drug in which two proteins are linked together. The idea is to bypass one of the weaknesses of current treatments, namely that in some cases the body develops antibodies against the medicine itself,” says Mikael Kerboeuf, one of the founders of Fenris Bio.
“Although the mechanism is new in the context of Crohn’s, it is not scientifically unknown. The same treatment approach has been explored in connection with other autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatism, where it has shown very promising results in Phase 2 clinical trials,” adds co-founder Marte Fauskanger.
The two currently only employees at Fenris Bio both have extensive experience in cancer research, with PhDs in tumor immunology — the study of how the immune system interacts with cancer cells — and work in immunotherapy. At first glance, the path from cancer research to Crohn’s may seem long, but they themselves do not believe that is the case.
“Although these are two very different diseases, there are many parallels in the underlying immunological mechanisms.”
The company’s background is unusual in that it began as an idea that was not initially supported by experimental data.
“It was really just an idea that I mentioned to some investors without any kind of data, really. But they were interested and gave us the funds we needed to carry out the first pilot studies,” says Kerboeuf.
The fact that the company is not based on research owned by a university or hospital can be both an advantage and a disadvantage. The risk for the first investors is high, but in return they avoid complicated licensing arrangements and gain full ownership of the idea and the intellectual property. The desire to start something of their own and manage the entire process themselves was also a driving force for the two researchers.
“I find academic research very exciting, but I won’t hide the fact that it is a dream to work on something where I can follow the whole process — from idea to something that can help people,” says Fauskanger.
For now, Fenris Bio is in the preclinical phase. The coming year will be used for production, verification, and testing on human cells, before further in vivo studies.
“At this early stage, we do everything ourselves here at ShareLab, but later much of it will have to be outsourced, including production under GMP requirements and testing in approved facilities,” they say.
There is also a multi-step financing plan ahead. The founders envisage a new funding round by the end of 2026, with capital from venture funds and private investors, while also applying for support from the Research Council of Norway. Their ambition is to raise capital in step with the achievement of key milestones.
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