Ancilia Biosciences, Inc., (Ancilia Bio), a biotechnology company harnessing the natural power of CRISPR to create bacterial therapies and products with immunity against destructive viruses, today announced the closing of a $4.2 million financing. The financing was led by Safar Partners, with the participation of Metaplanet, Psymed Ventures, Zubi Capital, Spacecadet Ventures and other institutional and private investors.
While best known for its gene editing applications, CRISPR-Cas evolved in bacteria as their native immune system against viruses. Ancilia’s proprietary technologies leverage the natural function of CRISPR to produce a new class of bacterial therapies and products with immunity against these viruses that can limit their effectiveness. Ancilia’s core technologies are based on the pioneering work of co-founder Dr. Rodolphe Barrangou, who established this natural function of CRISPR in bacteria and filed the first-ever CRISPR patent in 2004 and co-founder and chief technology officer David Paez-Espino, PhD, who has published more than 20 high impact papers in virology and bioinformatics and holds multiple patents in the field.
Co-founder and chief executive officer Alexandra Sakatos, PhD, noted:
“This financing underscores the novelty and potential utility of our technology. The interplay between viruses and bacteria is nature’s oldest arms race, and we aim to give bacteria a leg up in this race by leveraging nature’s first immune system – CRISPR-Cas. We are currently advancing our first therapeutic candidate towards clinical trials, and this funding will allow us to further build out and scale our platforms and position us for a subsequent financing round later this year.”
During evolution, bacteria developed CRISPR to protect themselves from infective viruses. Viruses that attack bacteria are the most abundant biological entity on the planet and comprise at least half of the human microbiome. They can contribute to human disease and also have the potential to limit the efficacy of beneficial bacterial products by preventing effective engraftment and survival. Ancilia’s proprietary CoVE™ platform first identifies and characterizes viruses, formerly a notoriously difficult challenge. The company then applies its proprietary EPIC platform, which leverages bacteria’s natural CRISPR function to create live biotherapeutics and other microbial products that are immune to these viruses, with the potential for greater efficacy and utility. Ancilia’s scientists have achieved proof-of-concept and obtained key patents protecting these inventions.
In conjunction with the financing, Vera Schroeder, PhD, a partner and member of the Investment Committee at Safar Partners, has joined the Ancilia Board of Directors.
Dr. Shroeder commented:
“Ancilia’s unique approach builds on the groundbreaking work of CRISPR pioneer Rodolphe Barrangou and David Paez Espino. Their complementary innovations enable Ancilia to identify and characterize destructive viruses and then leverage the native bacterial CRISPR immune response to protect beneficial bacteria from these predatory viruses. We are pleased to invest in the Ancilia team and its technology, which has the potential to significantly increase the success of efforts to use live bacterial products for healthcare, industrial, agricultural and other important applications.”
Dr. Shroeder has broad experience in the fields of chemistry, nanoscience and materials science. She worked at MP Healthcare Venture Management while completing her doctoral studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Dr. Shroeder holds BS and MS degrees in Chemistry from RWTH Aachen University in Germany and a PhD in Chemistry from MIT. She currently serves as a Director on the Boards of Concerto Biosciences and Active Surfaces.