Nestlé Health Science invests alongside existing investors as Enterome raises €14.5 million in Series C financing round
Paris, France and Boston, MA., April 20, 2016 ― ENTEROME Bioscience SA, a pioneer in the development of pharmaceuticals and diagnostics based on the gut microbiome, announces that it has raised €14.5 million in a Series C financing round. The round was led by existing investors, such as Seventure (including from its new Health for Life Capital fund) and Lundbeckfond Ventures, and included new investors. Nestlé Health Science also participated in the round as a new strategic investor. Financial terms of the investment were not disclosed.
Enterome will use the funds raised to advance the development of its lead drug candidate EB 8018 into first clinical studies during 2016 as a potential treatment for inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). EB 8018 is a novel small molecule FimH antagonist licensed from Vertex that specifically targets Adherent Invasive Escherichia coli (AIEC) proliferation in the gut, one of the main causes of inflammatory colitis in IBD sufferers. AIEC is an opportunistic pathogen able to thrive in the dysbiotic gut microbiome that results as IBD develops, prolonging and exacerbating the symptoms. EB 8018 acts to restore the dysbiotic microbiome to a normal state via a novel mechanism of action whereby the adhesion of AIEC to the gut wall and its proliferation is prevented.
In the diagnostics space, Enterome will pursue its development efforts in IBD and other microbiome-related diseases, where its unique technologies and insights can be leveraged on its own or under partnerships with diagnostic and pharmaceutical companies. Enterome will also use the funds to advance therapeutic programs in Immuno-Oncology.
Pierre Belichard, CEO, said: “We are pleased that our existing investors have taken the decision to make a further financial commitment to Enterome. We are also delighted that Nestlé Health Science has become a new strategic investor in the company to support our development programs. We anticipate that access to their expertise and broader capabilities will be valuable in helping us achieve our ambitions. With these new funds we anticipate making further significant progress towards our goal of creating new treatments for patients suffering from conditions where the gut microbiome plays a key role.”
Greg Behar, CEO of Nestlé Health Science, said: “The microbiome is a fast developing and new health frontier. Enterome has recognized expertise in identifying novel microbiome diagnostics. Our strategic investment in Enterome enables us to expand our microbiome portfolio ranging from diagnosis (Dx), to therapeutics (Rx) and nutritional therapies (Nx). We are excited to working with them.”
About Enterome
Enterome is pioneering the development of novel pharmaceuticals and diagnostics to support personalized therapies in microbiome-related diseases such as Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD), cancer and metabolic diseases.
Enterome is also leading the development of new industry standards in gut microbiome quantitative and functional analysis. This technology leadership allows Enterome to open up the new field of therapeutic target discovery in the microbiome in order to address significant unmet medical needs.
Enterome has established partnerships with leading pharmaceutical companies and academic research institutes, including Johnson & Johnson Innovation/Janssen Biotech, Takeda and Abbvie in inflammatory bowel diseases; and the Mayo Clinic and Geisinger hospitals in metabolic disorders.
The Company was established in 2012 in Paris, France to develop the discoveries made by the INRA metagenomic platform. The Company has raised a total of €32 million from leading venture capital investors (Seventure Partners, Lundbeckfond Ventures & Omnes Capital) and strategic investors (Nestlé Health Science, Shire & INRA transfer).
Additional information about Enterome is available through its website: www.enterome.com
About Seventure Partners
With over €600m in assets under management as of the end of 2015, Seventure Partners is a leading venture capital firm in Europe. Since 1997, Seventure Partners has invested in innovative businesses with high growth potential in digital technologies, in France and Germany, and in the Life Sciences field across Europe and North America. In Life Sciences, the main areas of focus include biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, connected health and medtech, industrial biotechnology, and last but not least: the MICROBIOME, nutrition, foodtech and personalized medicine. For more details: www.seventure.com
About Lundbeckfond Ventures
Lundbeckfond Ventures is a part of the asset management subsidiary of The Lundbeck Foundation which in addition to substantial financial assets has controlling ownerships in H. Lundbeck A/S, ALK-Abelló A/S and Falck A/S. Lundbeckfond Ventures has an evergreen structure and invests up to $60 million annually in life science companies. The Lundbeckfond Ventures team is located in Copenhagen, Denmark, and is active in both Europe and USA.
For more information, please refer to: www.lundbeckfondventures.com
