BiomX raises $24 million to boost bacteria based drugs

BiomX Ltd., a developer of therapies based on human bacteria, said it has raised $24 million in a Series A financing round which will help it advance its pipeline of drugs toward clinical stages.

The round was led by OrbiMed, Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc., and Takeda Ventures, Inc. with participation from Seventure Partners, MiraeAsset, SBI Japan-Israel Innovation Fund and other European investors, the Ness Ziona, Israel-based startup said in a statement.

BiomX, previously named MBcure, was founded in the FutuRx Ltd. incubator with the support of the Israel Innovation Authority.

The company seeks to develop new therapies for unmet medical needs using its understanding of the human microbiome, the bacteria that reside in and on the human body. The study of microbiome is a developing new pharmaceutical and nutritional field.

The company’s pipeline of drugs consists of products for the treatment of acne, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), cancer, and therapeutics that modulate the microbiome for improved performance of immuno-oncology drugs.

“We are committed to utilize our technological capabilities for the accelerated development of our pipeline towards clinical stage products,” Jonathan Solomon, CEO of BiomX, said.

BiomX focuses on developing new drugs to alleviate diseases stemming from an imbalance of the microbiome: from finding out which bacteria are related to a specific illnesses to offering solutions in the form of drugs that the company develops. The aim is to modify the microbiome and restore microbial balance through adding or eradicating bacteria using both existing and synthetically altered viruses that attack bacteria.

BiomX’s technologies are based on the research of its scientific collaborators: Professor Rotem Sorek and Dr. Eran Elinav, both of the Weizmann Institute of Science, and Professor Timothy K. Lu of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.