Health · Medical Research · 2 hrs ago
Pune biotech startup advances vitiligo drug candidate to phase 2 trials
Pune-based Ahammune Biosciences has moved AB1001 into phase 2 trials in India, after a decade of research.
Vitiligo causes patches of skin to lose colour when the immune system attacks pigment-producing cells.
Existing treatments include steroids and JAK inhibitors, which can have significant side-effects.
Ahammune says AB1001 targets a pathway that acts before the immune response begins.
The candidate is not an immunosuppressant, and the company aims for a treatment that stops patches spreading, restores colour and keeps it from fading.
Ahammune says it has raised $8–9 million through grants and equity funding to develop the drug.
In phase 2, trials in a larger group of patients will assess how well the drug works and whether it remains safe.
Pune-based Ahammune Biosciences has advanced its vitiligo drug candidate, AB1001, to phase 2 clinical trials.
The company says the candidate targets a pathway involved in triggering the skin’s autoimmune response.
Ahammune says AB1001 is not an immunosuppressant and is intended to stop patches spreading and restore pigmentation.
The candidate passed a safety check in phase 1 trials and is now being tested in patients across India.
The company says it developed the drug with a team of 10 and raised $8–9 million through grants and equity funding.
- Who
- Pune-based biotech company Ahammune Biosciences, co-founded by Parul Ganju and Krishnamurthy Natarajan.
- What
- Its lead candidate for vitiligo, AB1001, has advanced to phase 2 clinical trials.
- When
- After a decade of research. The publication date was 28 October 2026.
- Where
- Phase 2 trials are taking place across India. Ahammune is based in Pune.
- Why
- The company aims to target a pathway that triggers the autoimmune response in the skin and develop a treatment that stops patches spreading and restores pigmentation.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Ahammune was co-founded by Parul Ganju and Krishnamurthy Natarajan.
Ahammune advanced its lead candidate, AB1001, to phase 2 clinical trials.
AB1001 passed a safety check in its phase 1 trials.
The candidate entered clinical trials across India.
- Candidate
- AB1001
- Trial stage
- Phase 2 clinical trials
- Trial location
- Across India
- Company base
- Pune
- Team size
- 10
- Funding
- $8–9 million through grants and equity funding
What people are saying
That’s what has helped us in the last ten years to take the molecule into phase 2, at a fraction of the cost that any company outside India would spend.
We identified a pathway that leads to the trigger of this autoimmunity in the skin. And then we designed molecules to target this pathway
If you think of what attributes a good vitiligo treatment should have, there should ideally be three attributes: one, it should stop the spread of the patches…Second is also bringing back color to these patches so that they become even to your skin tone, and third is when they come back, they remain like that,