The breakthrough - By Virginia Morello

Once upon a time… this is how all the good stories start, right? And this is exactly what my journey with Agomab has been so far. After completing my PhD in Molecular Oncology, I was working on the same experimental lines in that ‘temporarily undefined’ period also known as a post-doc. The transition from the PhD went smoothly, so it all seemed natural to me, and even though I sometimes wondered: “Is this what I want to do for my entire life? What is a plausible evolution for my career in academia?” I was young, I liked what I was doing and I was happy that after all, I did find a place for myself in the adult world.

And then the breakthrough. It all started with the unconventional idea of activating growth factor signaling even though, for years, we had been working on inhibiting the very same pathways. It started as a side project, but with the passing of time and evidence accumulating, we began to work more and more enthusiastically on it. I remember that I felt like I was reprogramming myself after years spent with limited updates to the software. I remember the excitement of facing something new, while gaining more and more confidence with a solid background of data accumulating over the years. Of course, it was not all fun and games at the beginning, but in the end, it’s the good times that you remember.

And in the end, we did it. Over time we convinced people that we had something with a true potential. What comes later, is history. It was 2017 when we founded Agomab, and at that point in time no one could have imagined how far we would be today. Honestly, even now, sometimes I like to stop and tell myself: look, this is really happening! As Agomab was growing as a company, I felt as I was growing up WITH and IN it, as a scientist and as an individual. It was a process, and it took time to switch from the academic to the biotech mindset, where everything is more structured. For a scientist, it’s mostly a matter of compromise between keeping the focus on the objective and still following scientific curiosity.

Today, after enormous growth during the last couple of years, what I value the most of being part of Agomab is the constant interaction and the exchange with a team of enthusiastic and committed people. We all have different backgrounds, live in different countries and have joined Agomab at different points in time, but we all share a common objective: to translate the results of our research to patients. And I truly believe we will do it.

Outside Agomab, I love traveling and getting to know different cultures and lifestyles; I like hiking in the Italian Alps during the summer, but I also enjoy the city life with a morning run in the park, a good dinner out or a night at the theater.?