Translating biomedical research into a concrete treatment is a long and often complex journey. Few know this better than Laura Indolfi, born in Naples, an engineer by training with a career built between Italy and the United States.
Today, she leads PanTher Therapeutics, a startup developing an innovative, localized approach to delivering anticancer drugs. She also serves as a mentor for our TEF Ignition program, providing young entrepreneurs with valuable insights into what it truly means to build and grow a startup.
In this interview, we asked Laura to share her trajectory, from early intuitions to ongoing clinical trials.
Tell us about your background
«My name is Laura Indolfi, I’m from Naples and I trained as a materials science engineer. I studied at Federico II University, where I also completed my PhD in biomedical engineering. After my doctorate I moved to Boston for a research collaboration and, from there, built my career in the United States between Boston and Austin. Over the years I’ve kept one foot in research and the other in innovation: while at MIT, I attended business school courses to understand how to bring my lab work to market.»
When did you realize you wanted to found something of your own?
«I’d say it was a mix of curiosity and a bit of naivety. After my postdoc, I started interviewing with large companies, but every offer was for extremely technical roles, very similar to what I had already done. I knew I didn’t want to stay in academia, but without industry experience it was difficult to enter the corporate world. At some point I realized I couldn’t find a job I truly liked, so I decided to create one. We had promising data from a secondary project in the lab and, using what I had learned at MIT, I wrote a business plan and founded PanTher.»
How would you explain PanTher to someone outside the oncology world?
«I often explain it like this: we deliver anticancer drugs directly to the tumor site, instead of allowing them to spread throughout the body. It’s like having a small spacecraft that brings the drug exactly where it’s needed. The goal is simple: treat the tumor without poisoning the rest of the body.
In oncology, there have been major advances in drug development, but the way these drugs are administered has essentially remained the same. Today, anticancer drugs travel through the entire body, causing significant side effects. As an engineer, this never made sense to me: why spread a drug everywhere when it’s needed in a single, precise place? PanTher was born from that question.»
Where are you today and what do you hope for the future of the company?
«We are currently in the second phase of clinical trials on patients with pancreatic cancer, which is our first target. The results so far are positive and encouraging. The clinical pathway is long: there is an initial safety phase, a dose-escalation phase, and a final phase with larger patient numbers. We are in the most critical moment of development. Next year will be crucial for the data from the second clinical study and, if everything goes as planned, we hope to expand the platform and possibly bring part of the work back to Italy.»
What have been the most difficult moments in transforming an idea into a real company?
«The first year was surprisingly easy, probably thanks to enthusiasm. The fatigue comes later, when you realize that building a company has very little to do with science. Don’t get me wrong, a solid scientific idea is necessary, but not enough. The real work is everything around it: learning how to speak with clinicians, surgeons, regulatory reviewers, insurers, investors, and industrial partners. None of these aspects were part of my original training.»
How important is the support of an organization like TEF?
«It’s essential. When I started, programs like TEF did not exist in Italy; I was fortunate to find support in Boston. I joined every course, program, and accelerator I could: MIT, Harvard Business School, multidisciplinary teams evaluating scientific technologies. Those environments gave me a network, mentors, practical tools, and even small amounts of initial funding to de-risk the idea. Support like this can completely change the trajectory of a researcher.»
What advice would you give a young researcher with a strong idea but few reference points?
«First of all, believe in it. Then build a network, seek feedback, and even try to invalidate your idea to understand what really works. Anyone attempting something innovative will often hear “this can’t be done.” You have to listen to feedback, analyze it, integrate it when appropriate, and not get discouraged when it isn’t constructive. Tenacity, more than anything else, makes the difference.»