The discoveries of Dr. Ramsdell and others have deepened our understanding of autoimmune diseases and the important role of Tregs, which prevent immune cells from attacking a patient’s own body
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. & SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
Sonoma Biotherapeutics Congratulates Fred Ramsdell, PhD, Co-Founder and Scientific Advisory Board Chair, on Receiving the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work in Immunotherapy and Breakthrough Understanding of the Role of Regulatory T cells (Tregs)
Sonoma Biotherapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing engineered regulatory T cell (Treg) therapies for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, is honored to announce that Fred Ramsdell, PhD, Sonoma Biotherapeutics co-founder, past Chief Scientific Officer (CSO), and current chair of the Scientific Advisory Board, was named a winner of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
“Congratulations to Fred Ramsdell, co-founder of SonomaBio, and a valued friend and colleague. Like many great scientists, Fred spent years working behind the scenes to identify the gene that caused devastating systemic autoimmune diseases in a little-known strain of mice,” said Jeff Bluestone, PhD, Chief Executive Officer and President. “The discovery of the gene, FOXP3, changed our understanding of peripheral tolerance and led to a new field of immunotherapy.”
“SonomaBio is proud to have had Fred as our previous Chief Scientific Officer and current advisor. His seminal work—together with Alexander Rudensky, PhD, co-founder and scientific advisor to SonomaBio—have been the guiding light for our development of Treg cell therapies that we are confident will change the world of immunotherapy to treat the most difficult autoimmune diseases,” continued Bluestone.
Dr. Fred Ramsdell’s work in the discovery of the gene, FOXP3, and its role in Treg development changed the field of immunology. He is a veteran biotechnology leader in immunology with nearly three decades of experience and was named along with Dr. Rudensky, the 2017 Crafoord Prize – Polyarthritis.
A co-founder of Sonoma Biotherapeutics, Dr. Ramsdell was the former CSO and current Scientific Advisory Board Chair of the Company.
Dr. Ramsdell earned his doctoral degree in microbiology and immunology from the University of California, Los Angeles and holds a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and cell biology from the University of California, San Diego.
Following a fellowship at the NIH, Dr. Ramsdell joined Immunex studying T cell activation and tolerance, with a focus on gene discovery and functional characterization. He later joined Darwin Molecular (which was later acquired by Celltech R&D) to establish the immunology program. Amongst other programs, he led the team that discovered and characterized FOXP3, a gene critical to the function of regulatory T cells. Dr. Ramsdell joined ZymoGenetics in 2004, where he led teams studying novel proteins with potential regulatory activity in lymphoid cells. In 2008, Novo Nordisk brought on Dr. Ramsdell to help establish the company’s new Inflammation Research Center in Seattle and lead the Immunobiology group.
Prior to SonomaBio, Dr. Ramsdell was the CSO at the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy (PICI) where he helped to build and advance multiple research programs from the inception of the Institute.
About Sonoma Biotherapeutics
Sonoma Biotherapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing engineered regulatory T cell (Treg) therapies to treat serious autoimmune and inflammatory diseases by restoring balance to the immune system. Founded by pioneers in Treg biology and cell therapy, the company is employing proprietary platform technologies and approaches to develop a new generation of targeted and durable Treg cell therapies. Sonoma Biotherapeutics is based in South San Francisco and Seattle. For more information, visit sonomabio.com and follow on X, formerly Twitter, and LinkedIn.
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