Novome Biotechnologies, Inc., a South San Francisco, Calif.-based biotechnology company engineering living medicines for chronic diseases, secured $33m in Series A financing.
The round was led by DCVC Bio with participation from seed investor 5AM Ventures, Alta Partners, Alexandria Venture Investments and Mayo Clinic. In conjunction with the financing, the company has expanded its Board of Directors to include Kiersten Stead, Managing Partner at DCVC Bio, and Dan Janney, Managing Partner at Alta Partners. Additional board members include Andrew Schwab, Managing Partner at 5AM Ventures, Will DeLoache and Blake Wise.
The company intends to use the funds to advance its lead hyperoxaluria program through Phase 1 clinical proof-of-concept work, as well as to expand its Genetically Engineered Microbial Medicines (GEMMs) platform to address additional indications.
Led by Blake Wise, Chief Executive Officer, and Will DeLoache, Ph.D., Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer, Novome is focused on treating chronic diseases with a platform for controlled colonization of the human gut with engineered therapeutic bacteria. The company’s lead preclinical program in hyperoxaluria is focused on the development of a live biotherapeutic product that degrades oxalate to prevent the formation of kidney stones. Additional programs are being pursued in a range of indications that leverage the company’s proprietary synthetic biology platform.
The company was founded in 2016 by scientists from Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley, based on research performed in the laboratory of Scientific Co-Founder Dr. Justin Sonnenburg, Associate Professor, Stanford University. The founding team, Drs. Will DeLoache, Weston Whitaker, Zachary Russ, and Liz Shepherd, combines deep expertise in synthetic biology and the study of the gut microbiota.
FinSMEs
09/01/2020