Pluvia

Pluvia (Pluvia AS, also referred to as Pluvia Biotech) is a Norwegian biotechnology company established in 2015 as a spin-out from the University of Bergen, commercializing long-running academic research on protein structure and protein misfolding. The company develops small-molecule pharmacological chaperones: compounds that bind selectively to key sites of mutant proteins to prevent instability and misfolding, thereby rescuing the enzymatic activity needed to modify loss-of-function genetic diseases.

Its lead development program addresses phenylketonuria (PKU), a rare inherited metabolic disorder caused by mutations in the gene encoding phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH), the enzyme that converts phenylalanine into tyrosine. Loss of PAH function leads to accumulation of phenylalanine, which is neurotoxic; untreated PKU can result in intellectual and neurological disability, and diagnosed patients typically require lifelong dietary management. The lead compound, PBAS499, is being developed as a potential oral therapy intended to stabilize the patient's own dysfunctional PAH enzyme. Pluvia states it intends to build a proprietary technology platform and apply its drug discovery approach to additional rare diseases caused by protein misfolding.

The company is headquartered at Thormøhlensgate 51 in Bergen, Norway, and is registered under Norwegian enterprise number 916.635.559.

Founding story

The company originated at the University of Bergen, where research on protein structure, stability and misfolding — including compound screening and pharmacological chaperone approaches to PKU led by Prof. Aurora Martinez at the Department of Biomedicine — was spun out into a company in 2015 to commercialize the technology.

Business model

Preclinical-stage therapeutics developer financed by equity investment from venture and angel investors, public innovation grants and patient-advocacy funding, with value built through proprietary compounds, patent protection and regulatory designations rather than current product sales.

No commercial products are described; funding to date comes from equity investors, a Research Council of Norway grant and patient-organization investment supporting development of PBAS499.

Traction

PBAS499 has received orphan drug designations in both the United States and Europe (EMA COMP granted European ODD in May 2024), and a composition-of-matter patent application was published by WIPO in February 2025. The company reports efficacy in a PKU mouse model and a clean in vitro and in vivo safety profile, presented at the SSIEM Annual Symposium in September 2024. It has attracted a NOK 15.6 million Research Council of Norway grant, investment from the National PKU Alliance, and a 2026 seed-extension round including Investinor, Sarsia, Mid Atlantic Bio Angels and Tidligfasekapital Vestland.

Latest developments

In August 2026 Pluvia announced the appointment of Deborah Ramsdell as CEO, described as bringing more than three decades of biotechnology leadership, regulatory and clinical development experience in rare diseases, with the stated aim of moving PBAS499 into the clinic. Earlier, in May 2026, Mid Atlantic Bio Angels and Tidligfasekapital Vestland joined a seed-extension round by existing investors Sarsia and Investinor to fund final preclinical steps toward First-in-Human studies, following a February 2026 investment by the National PKU Alliance.