Vedanta Biosciences Secures $45.5 Million Series C Financing to Advance Microbiome-Driven Immunotherapies

Vedanta Biosciences Announces Completion of $45.5 Million Series C FinancingRecently, Vedanta Biosciences announced the completion of a $45.5 million Series C financing round. The company focuses on developing live biotherapeutic products for disease treatment, leveraging human gut commensal bacteria with immunomodulatory effects. This round of financing was jointly invested by JSR Corporation, Shumway Capital, SymBiosis LLC, Partners Investment, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Rock Springs Capital, Invesco Asset Management, Seventure Partners, and PureTech Health.

Research has shown that gut microbiota play a crucial role in the human immune system. Vedanta Biosciences is developing novel therapies for immune and inflammatory diseases by modulating the human microbiome. The company has established a proprietary platform that enables the cultivation of commensal microorganisms alongside new drug development. To date, a large number of commensal bacterial strains have been isolated from the human gut to elucidate the mechanisms by which the immune system recognizes and responds to these microbes, including the induction of regulatory T cells, CD8+ T cells, and Th17 cells.

The company has developed multiple live biotherapeutic products for the treatment of autoimmune diseases or cancer caused by bacterial infections. Unlike fecal microbiota transplantation or therapies using fecal components, live biotherapeutics are administered as lyophilized bacterial powder in oral capsules. After oral administration, the live bacteria traverse the gastrointestinal tract and colonize the intestine, stimulating a series of immune responses. This therapy can exert a robust and durable therapeutic effect on the patient’s gut microbiota.

The proceeds from this financing round will be used to advance the development of Vedanta Biosciences’ microbiome candidate product pipeline, including the Phase 1/2 clinical trial of VE416 for the treatment of food allergies; the Phase 1b/2 clinical trial of VE800 in combination with Opdivo for the treatment of advanced or metastatic cancer; the Phase 2 clinical trial of VE303 for the treatment of recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection (rCDI); and the Phase 1 clinical trial of VE202 for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Notably, Vedanta Biosciences entered into strategic collaborations with Bristol-Myers Squibb and Johnson & Johnson in November and December 2018, respectively.

▲ R&D Pipeline (Image source: Vedanta Biosciences official website)

Dr. Bernat Olle, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Vedanta Biosciences, stated, “Our proprietary platform holds promise for addressing a wide range of unmet medical needs, including drug-resistant infections, food allergies, and other immune-mediated diseases. Thanks to investor support, this financing will advance the clinical development of our microbiome therapeutic candidates across multiple therapeutic areas.”

References:

[1] Vedanta Biosciences Closes Extended $45.5 Million Series C Financing Retrieved on May 13, 2019 from the official website of Vedanta Biosciences