Nextbiotix has secured €7 million ($8.2 million) in funding to develop NBX1650, the company’s lead bacterial candidate for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).
This first round of funding was led by Auriga Partners, with Sofimac Innovation, Cap Innov’Est, INRA, and Biocodex also contributing.
“I am particularly proud to see Nextbiotix coming out of the ground of the longstanding relationship we have established with Auriga Partners over the last year and a half. The support of our incubators Paris Biotech Santé and Wilco was also pivotal in this success. Together we have managed to assemble a very robust and complementary team of investors bringing a wide range of expertise to the table. We are delighted to have raised a first round of financing significant enough to support our efforts in bringing a revolutionary new class of medicines, called Live Biotherapeutics, to patients,” Benjamin Hadida, CEO of Nextbiotix, said in a press release.
France-based Nextbiotix was co-founded by a team of researchers who led the discovery of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, a naturally occurring gut bacteria that actively reduces inflammation and regulates immune activity in the digestive tract.
Researchers Harry Sokol, MD, PhD, a professor of gastro-enterology at AP-HP/Sorbonne University; Philippe Langella, PhD, a microbiologist and research director at INRA Jouy-en-Josas; and Patrick Gervais, professor emeritus of process engineering at University of Burgundy/AgroSup Dijon, worked together for more than 10 years to develop a Faecalibacterium prausnitzii-based therapy.
NBX1650 is made up of a single strain of Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, and according to Nextbiotix, IBD patients with a higher proportion of this type of bacteria in their gut are significantly more likely to remain in remission.
More than 1 million people in the U.S. and 2.5 million in Europe are estimated to have IBD, which significantly affects patients’ quality of life.
This new cash flow will help Nextbiotix bring this bacteria-based therapy into clinical testing.
“We are very happy and proud to participate in this new venture in the microbiota realm, alongside recognized and esteemed Founder Experts. This innovative and promising therapeutic approach potentially offers new perspectives to patients and contributes to the fulfilment of unmet medical needs,” Laurence Bougneres-Vermont, PhD, from Auriga Partners, Jean-Briac Lesne from Sofimac Innovation, Jean-François Rax from Cap Innov’Est, Réjane Le Tinevez from INRA, and Jean-Marie Lefevre from Biocodex, said in a joint statement.