Vedanta Biosciences Secures $27 Million Series C Financing to Expand Microbiome-Derived Therapeutic Pipeline

VCBeat learned that on December 24 (U.S. local time), Vedanta Biosciences, a clinical-stage bioscience company, announced the completion of its $27 million Series C financing round.

This round of financing was jointly participated in by new investors and existing strategic investors, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Rock Springs Capital, Invesco Asset Management, Seventure Partners, and PureTech Health.

It is understood that Vedanta Biosciences plans to use the funding to advance its pipeline of microbiome-derived product candidates, including Phase 1/2 studies of VE416 for food allergy, Phase 1b/2 studies of VE800 in combination with Opdivo (nivolumab) for advanced or metastatic cancer, and the recently initiated Phase 2 study of VE303 for recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection (rCDI).

Vedanta Biosciences is a biotechnology company headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Founded in 2010 by PureTech Health (PRTC.L), the company is co-founded and led by CEO Dr. Bernat Olle.

The company’s scientific co-founders are a group of leading experts in the fields of immunology and microbiology, including Dr. Ruslan Medzhitov (Professor of Immunobiology at Yale University), Dr. Brett Finlay (Professor at the University of British Columbia), Dr. Kenya Honda (Professor at Keio University School of Medicine), Dr. Dan Littman (Professor of Molecular Immunology at New York University), Dr. Alexander Rudensky (Tri-Institutional Professor at Memorial Sloan Kettering Institute), and Dr. Jeremiah Faith (Professor at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai). Among them, Dr. Kenya Honda is the inventor of Vedanta Biosciences’ primary product candidate.

Vedanta Biosciences is a leader in the microbiome field, with expertise and capabilities in discovering, developing, and manufacturing live biotherapeutic products. These include an extensive collection of human microbiome-related strains, a suite of proprietary assays for selecting pharmacologically potent strains, substantial proprietary datasets from human intervention studies, and cGMP-compliant production facilities for rationally defined bacterial consortia in powder form. The company’s scientific co-founders collaborated to discover human commensal bacteria capable of eliciting a range of immune responses, including the induction of regulatory T cells, CD8+ T cells, and Th17 cells.

Unlike approaches based on single strains or microbiome-derived modulatory metabolites, Vedanta Biosciences is currently developing a novel therapeutic approach for immune-mediated diseases. This approach is based on a rationally defined consortium of bacterial strains derived from human microbiota, aiming to induce robust and durable therapeutic changes in patients’ gut microbiomes. The strain consortium consists of bacteria produced from pure clonal cell banks, thereby circumventing the need to rely on directly sourced fecal donor materials with inconsistent composition.

VCBeat has learned that Vedanta Biosciences has completed four rounds of financing from 2016 to the present. In June 2016, Vedanta Biosciences raised $50 million from three investors, including Rock Springs Capital (the largest amount raised in any single round to date). In November 2017, the company received $5.4 million in funding from CARB-X. In July 2018, Vedanta Biosciences secured financing through the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America, although the specific amount was not disclosed.

“We are delighted to have the support of both new and existing investors, and we will continue to solidify our leadership position in the microbiome space,” said Dr. Bernat Olle, Co-founder and CEO of Vedanta Biosciences. “We have demonstrated that rationally defined bacterial consortia, as a novel therapeutic modality, are safe, well-tolerated, and exhibit favorable pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profiles in humans. These new funds, along with our partnerships with Janssen and Bristol-Myers Squibb, will help the company advance four R&D programs targeting recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection, food allergies, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and several cancer indications.”

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was co-founded by Bill Gates and Melinda Gates in 2000. Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, it maintains regional offices in Washington, D.C.; New Delhi, India; Beijing, China; and London, United Kingdom. The foundation’s trustees are Bill Gates, Melinda Gates, and Warren Buffett.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is a grant-making foundation that primarily provides donations and support for education, global health, population, and community development in the Pacific Northwest. Locally, the foundation is also committed to promoting strategies and programs designed to assist low-income families.

Bristol-Myers Squibb, headquartered in New York, USA, was founded in 1887. The company primarily engages in the discovery, development, licensing, manufacturing, marketing, distribution, and sale of pharmaceuticals and nutritional products through its subsidiaries.

Bristol-Myers Squibb is divided into two segments: the Pharmaceutical Segment and the Nutrition Segment. The Pharmaceutical Segment comprises global pharmaceuticals and international consumer medicines operations, while the Nutrition Segment is operated by the company’s subsidiary, Mead Johnson Nutrition.

Rock Springs Capital is a venture capital firm headquartered in Maryland, USA. Its core business includes providing portfolio management services and project portfolio management for corporate or institutional clients.

Rock Springs Capital’s investments are primarily concentrated in the early-stage and late-stage startup phases of companies. To date, the firm has made 54 investments, with 41 successful exits. The companies from which capital was exited are predominantly in the biotechnology sector.

Invesco Asset Management is an independent U.S. investment management company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with offices in 25 countries and regions.

Invesco Asset Management has more than 7,000 employees. As of November 30, 2018, the firm managed over $926 billion in assets.

Seventure Partners is a French venture capital firm founded in 1997 and stands as one of Europe’s leading venture investors. The company primarily invests in enterprises operating in the fields of information and communication technologies (ICT) and life sciences, providing funding for their innovative initiatives. It actively engages with entrepreneurs in their startup ventures, sharing their passion for entrepreneurship.

As of December 31, 2016, Seventure Partners managed €660 million, demonstrating strong growth potential. With a team of over 20 employees, including approximately 15 investment professionals, Seventure Partners boasts a solid track record and deep expertise in technology, entrepreneurship, and various private equity activities.

PureTech Health is an interdisciplinary biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Massachusetts, USA. Listed on the London Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol PRTC, it counts Vedanta Biosciences as its subsidiary.

PureTech Health is dedicated to developing 21st-century medicines that modulate human adaptive systems. Their therapies target the immune, nervous, and gastrointestinal systems, addressing the underlying pathophysiology of diseases from a systemic perspective rather than through single receptors or pathways. The company is advancing more than 20 clinical studies, including multiple proof-of-concept trials in humans, with results expected to be announced over the next two years.