EnteroBiotix Limited, a clinical-stage biotechnology company focussed on developing best-in-class full-spectrum microbiome therapeutics, today announced that the Company has completed its £27m ($34m USD) funding round, supported by new and existing investors.
The funding will be used to advance EBX’s lead product candidate, EBX-102-02 through a Phase 2 clinical trial in Irritable Bowel Syndrome (‘IBS’) in partnership with the Functional Gut Clinic, as well as to progress its pipeline for other conditions linked to a disrupted gut microbiome, including liver cirrhosis and hepatic encephalopathy (‘HE’).
The financing, which comprises £15.7m of new equity and the conversion of £11.6m of loan notes into equity comes from experienced US-based life science investors Thairm Bio and Kineticos Life Sciences, as well as the Scottish National Investment Bank (‘the Bank’). Existing investors including Scottish Enterprise and many of the Company’s private investors also participated.
Dr James McIlroy, CEO of EnteroBiotix, said:
“This significant new investment helps enable our vision of transforming the standard of care for patients suffering from serious conditions linked to the gut microbiome. It will help accelerate the development of our innovative product pipeline and propels us towards our goal of bringing these innovative treatments to market. We look forward to working closely with our new partners at the Bank and with our existing investors to bring this vision to fruition, for the benefit of patients across the globe.”
EnteroBiotix also announced that the first patient has been dosed in a multi-centre randomised double-blind placebo controlled clinical trial designed to evaluate EBX-102-02 for the treatment of IBS.
The Phase 2 study, named ‘TrIuMPH’ (treating IBS with an intestinal microbiota product for health) will initially enrol 60 patients with IBS and constipation across sites in the United Kingdom. The primary objective of the study is to assess the safety and tolerability of EBX-102-02. Secondary and exploratory endpoints relate to assessing preliminary signals of efficacy of EBX-102-02 and potential biomarkers over a six-week period. The trial will be delivered in partnership with the Functional Gut Clinic, a leading IBS diagnosis and treatment centre. EBX-102-02 utilises the Company’s proprietary AMPLA™ technology and is manufactured from its GMP-certified manufacturing facilities in Scotland.
EBX-102-02 is a full-spectrum drug candidate that contains highly diverse microbial ecosystems and key functional groups that restore and fortify the microbiome. EBX-102-02 is presented as an easy to take capsule containing off-white colour odourless powder.
Dr James McIlroy, CEO of EnteroBiotix, said:
“We are excited to have achieved this important milestone in our quest to alleviate the suffering caused by IBS. We believe that EBX-102-02 has the potential to be transformational for the IBS patient community and for the field of microbiome therapeutics. We look forward to working in collaboration with our partners to take us closer to realising our vision of tackling unmet clinical needs with best-in-class full-spectrum microbiome medicines.”