{"id":35538,"date":"2023-10-10T14:07:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-10T12:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/plnt.nl\/ervaringen\/seranovo-optimizes-drug-solubility\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T14:57:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T12:57:31","slug":"seranovo-optimizes-drug-solubility","status":"publish","type":"ervaringen","link":"https:\/\/plnt.nl\/en\/ervaringen\/seranovo-optimizes-drug-solubility\/","title":{"rendered":"SeraNovo optimizes drug solubility"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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What happens when a 23-year-old college student starts a company? Well, for Niall of SeraNovo, it had the best possible outcome: his pharmaceutical company has become a prominent player in his field. Seranovo has made an incredible mark on health care. <\/strong><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>

SeraNovo has been pushing the boundaries of innovation and research for seven years and is now an established member of the Leiden Bio Science Park.<\/p>

But what is the key to the startup’s success? We spoke with Niall Hodgins, CEO and co-founder of SeraNovo, <\/a>to find out. <\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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What does SeraNovo do?<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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As a pharmaceutical company, SeraNovo is the result of complex scientific research and, of course, innovation. If Niall had to explain to his mother what his company does, he would say the following: <\/p>

“The vast majority of drugs that are developed are not optimally absorbed by our bodies. We can have great treatments for cancer, infectious diseases or neurodegenerative diseases – but if they are not absorbed by the body, they are basically useless.”<\/p>

This is where SeraNovo comes in: “For each of these drugs, SeraNovo makes a type of liquid that the drug goes into. That liquid goes into a capsule and the capsule can be taken by people. Then the drug can be absorbed by the body.”<\/p>

SeraNovo is having a huge impact on the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries with this method, as it enables drug therapies that otherwise would not have been possible.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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How did SeraNovo get started?<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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“I’ve told this story so many times – I’ll just give you the party story,” Niall laughs.<\/p>

Like many other internationals in Leiden, Niall originally came to live here to get his master’s degree. Even before he graduated, he had started a business – “I just didn’t really realize that starting a business meant staying in one location.” <\/p>

During college, Niall and his co-founder Ian began to tackle the problem of “solving the unsolvable” by experimenting with different groups of liquids. “There was no plan at all; it was just about ‘how do you solve this problem,'” Niall says. <\/p>

It is this passion for science and dedication to solving problems that have kept the company going (and growing!) ever since.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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What role did PLNT play in SeraNovo's Startup Story?<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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SeraNovo was one of the first members of PLNT and was around before PLNT even actually existed. In fact, in the beginning, the company was part of a network of student entrepreneurs called Lugus. <\/p>

Eventually, PLNT<\/a> was born. Niall decided to move his office to the PLNT building because it is close to the Bio Science Park, where SeraNovo’s labs are located. <\/p>

Surrounded by like-minded people and inspired by other revolutionary companies, SeraNovo remained at PLNT until 2019, until the company eventually moved to the Bio Science Park.<\/p>

This new location had many advantages, Niall explains: “Here we have many qualified students, the infrastructure of laboratories and other pharmaceutical companies nearby.”<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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How has SeraNovo grown over the years?<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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When SeraNovo began, Ian and Niall focused solely on science and technology – “we worked every day, all day, in the lab.”<\/p>

As time went on, SeraNovo changed from only technology-focused to “a real organization,” Niall said. “We now also deal with things like finance, legal and HR.” <\/p>

This also changed Niall on a personal level. “There is very little that makes my heart rate go up now,” he says. <\/p>

“I just have tremendous optimism for SeraNovo. I’m tremendously positive about the capabilities of the people who work in this organization and our ability to create solutions to problems.”<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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What does the future hold for SeraNovo?<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Speaking of optimism, Niall tells us that his philosophy states that “any problem can be solved with the right knowledge – unless it violates the laws of physics.” To him, this means that success is always a possible outcome: “it’s just a matter of finding the right path to that success.” <\/p>

“I see the future super-optimistic,” Niall says – both financially and in terms of SeraNovo’s impact on the ‘real’ world.<\/p>

SeraNovo’s technologies will enable an enormous amount of medicine in the future. About 90% of all drugs SeraNovo is working on fall within the range of cancer or CNS (central nervous system) diseases – meaning they will have an immense impact on healthcare worldwide. <\/p>

Currently, SeraNovo is working hard to enable oral administration of drugs that currently require injections. “But much of that is still confidential,” says Niall. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What happens when a 23-year-old college student starts a company? Well, for Niall of SeraNovo, it had the best possible outcome: his pharmaceutical company has become a prominent player in his field. Seranovo has made an incredible mark on health care. SeraNovo has been pushing the boundaries of innovation and research for seven years and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":12921,"template":"","type-verhaal":[260,259],"class_list":["post-35538","ervaringen","type-ervaringen","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","type-verhaal-startups","type-verhaal-studenten"],"yoast_head":"\nSeraNovo optimizes drug solubility - PLNT<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What happens when a student starts a company? 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