A treatment to fight life-threatening infections
As Head of the Scottish Biologics Facility at the University of Aberdeen, Soumya spent years developing antibody technology and saw a chance to turn research into real treatment.
Epidemiologists often describe invasive fungal infections as a ‘silent pandemic’.
While common issues like athlete’s foot are mild, invasive infections are lethal, infiltrating the bloodstream to attack the lungs, brain or heart. For vulnerable patients, such as those undergoing chemotherapy, organ transplants or abdominal surgeries, mortality rates can soar to as high as 80%. Globally 3 million people die each year due to infections caused by fungal pathogens such as Candida and Aspergillus.
The world is currently ill-equipped to fight back.
With just three main classes of antifungal drugs in existence and resistance spreading fast, the World Health Organisation recently signalled a global ‘call to action’ by releasing its first-ever Fungal Priority Pathogens list.
It is against this backdrop of urgent clinical need that Brigid Bio is developing its pioneering, first-in-class biologic therapeutics.
A spin-out from the University of Aberdeen in 2025, Brigid Bio leverages the world-class scientific expertise of two centres of excellence: the Aberdeen Fungal Group and the Scottish Biologics Facility.
Led by CSO, Professor Carol Munro and CEO, Dr. Soumya Palliyil, the team has developed novel monoclonal antibodies that target specific fungal cell wall proteins – the very structures responsible for both infection and drug resistance.
Seeking the commercial expertise to match their scientific breakthrough, Soumya entered Converge in 2023, ultimately winning the runner-up prize in the flagship Converge Challenge category. While the £29,000 prize package provided a vital boost, for Soumya, the impact of the programme went far beyond the award itself:
“Right from joining the Converge competition, there was a transition. The project was not a research project anymore; we were developing a product, a drug that will eventually be used in patients.”
As the spinout’s first major accolade, the award acted as a crucial ‘stamp of approval’, providing the external validation Soumya needed to gain traction with investors and secure follow-on funding.
“Instantly, that was an endorsement for our idea,” she explains. “It raised our profile and provided the credibility that is so essential for an early-stage company.”
Since their success at Converge, Brigid Bio has secured –
- £700k in funding through a combination of Innovate UK (ICURe) Exploit funding & Scottish Enterprise support
- €250,000 non-dilutive funding from INCATE, a European AMR accelerator based in Switzerland
- £150,000 Future EDGE award from Scottish EDGE
- The Brigid Bio co-founders received the University of Aberdeen Principal’s Excellence Award in April 2026 (pictured)
The company is currently in the preclinical development stage, with a strategic three-year roadmap to complete IND-enabling studies and enter Phase 1 trials. Their goal is to prove clinical efficacy in target patient groups before partnering with major global pharmaceutical firms to bring these life-saving therapies to market.
As Brigid Bio moves closer to the clinic, their mission remains as urgent as ever.
What began as a collaboration in an Aberdeen university lab has become a pioneering venture with the potential to rewrite the script for vulnerable patients worldwide. Soumya and the team are proof positive that with the right mindset – and the right support – scientific breakthroughs can become the global health solutions of tomorrow.