Vedanta Biosciences, Inc., a Cambridge, Mass.-based clinical-stage microbiome company developing a new category of oral therapies using defined bacterial consortia manufactured from clonal cell banks, closed a $68m Series D financing.
The round was led by affiliates of Magnetar Capital with participation from Verition Fund Management, Fosun Health Capital, co-founder PureTech Health (Nasdaq: PRTC, LSE: PRTC), Rock Springs Capital, Skyviews Life Science, JSR Corporation, SymBiosis LLC, Shumway Capital, Health for Life Capital (Seventure Partners), and other institutional investors. The round also includes a $25m investment from Pfizer as part of the Pfizer Breakthrough Growth Initiative, which was announced in January 2021.
The company plans to use the funds to advance its pipeline of defined bacterial consortia, including progressing VE303 into a Phase 3 clinical trial in patients at high risk for recurrentCDI, initiating a Phase 2 clinical trial of VE202 in mild to moderate ulcerative colitis, and continuing to advance programs in additional indications.
Led by Bernat Olle, Ph.D., Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, Vedanta Biosciences is developing a potential new category of oral therapies based on rationally defined consortia of bacteria derived from the human microbiome. All of the company’s pipeline programs are wholly owned.
The company-sponsored programs include
- VE303 for the Prevention of Recurrence in High-risk Patients with Clostridioides difficile (CDI) Infection
- VE202 for the Treatment of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
- VE800 for the Treatment of Advanced and Metastatic Tumors
Preclinical programs include
- VE707, a preclinical program for the prevention of infection by several problematic Gram-negative Enterobacteriaceae, which are some of the most common hospital-acquired pathogens.
Investigator-sponsored studies include
- VE416 in Peanut Allergy
- VE303 in Hepatic Encephalopathy
FinSMEs
21/07/2021