Experienced life science leader joins Diamyd Medical in Umeå

Sofia Mayans, who transitioned from her research to co-founding the award-winning company InfiCure Bio, is taking on a new role as Director of Business Development at Diamyd Medical in Umeå.
“With our in-house expertise and the new production facility coming online, Diamyd Medical has significant business opportunities ahead,” she says.

In 2015, PhD Sofia Mayans left academia to focus entirely on building the startup InfiCure Bio. With Dan Holmberg, she led the CRO company, which was named "New Business of the Year" at the 2019 Umeå Gala, until 2023. During 2024, she divided her time between working as a business coach at SLU Holding and serving as interim CEO at the startup Vakona AB.

"Without my experience at InfiCure Bio and the startup world, I wouldn’t have landed this role at Diamyd. Many of the tasks I’ll be taking on here are similar to what I did at InfiCure – working with clients, understanding their needs, and presenting what we can offer,” Sofia explains. She adds, "It’s particularly rewarding to join Diamyd since the company focuses on diabetes, the area I completed my PhD in.”

Developing precision medicines
Diamyd Medical is developing precision medicines for the prevention and treatment of type 1 diabetes and LADA (Latent Autoimmune Diabetes in Adults). The 2,200 square meter production facility in Umeå is being built to manufacture recombinant GAD65 protein, the active ingredient in the antigen-specific immunotherapy Diamyd®.

Sofia Mayans' role involves supporting the company's business development efforts and exploring business opportunities connected to the production facility in Umeå, beyond its primary function of producing recombinant GAD65 protein.

”Our production facility opens up opportunities to manufacture for other companies, and we can also offer our internal expertise on a consultancy basis. There’s a lot of potential, and I’m excited to explore the possibilities and take on this new challenge”.

CEO Ulf Hannelius on the recruitment of Sofia Mayans:

”We are pleased to welcome Sofia to our team. Her extensive experience in life sciences and business development will be highly valuable for Diamyd Medical as we continue to advance and expand our business opportunities”, he says.