About us
Instructing immune cells, locally
Ilya Pharma is developing novel therapeutic modalities to catalyse the future of local-acting immunotherapies.
Our science
Ilya's technology leverages pharmaceutical development of well-known, but biochemically unstable, human therapeutic proteins acting on tissue immune cells. They are produced locally, exactly where they are needed, by live non-human, non-colonising lactic acid bacteria acting as local mini-bioreactors.
The modality allows the use of a wide range of immune-active proteins that are not suited to be developed as traditional biologics or gene therapy, in a very cost-efficient way.
Our name
Inspired by Ilya Mechnikov
Our approach is inspired by the early work of Professor Ilya Mechnikov, who received the Nobel Prize in 1908 for describing that immune cells have multiple functions in vivo. Read more at nobelprize.org
Ilya Pharma conducts its own development with GMP/GCP in-house capabilities, and in partnership with renowned organisations such as the European Innovation Council, NIH, Uppsala University, the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences and KU Leuven.
People
Team
Evelina Vågesjö
CEO & Co-founder
PhD. Leads the company's strategy, pipeline and partnerships. Eisenhower Fellow 2025.
Mia Phillipson
Co-founder
Professor of Physiology, Uppsala University. Olof Rudbeck Medal 2026, member of IVA.
Stefan Roos
Team member
Expert in live bacteria as pharmaceuticals.
Stefan Pflanz
Team member
Business development.