Another microbiome startup is raising big money: San Francisco-based Second Genome just closed out a $42.6 million round. Notably, it was co-led by Pfizer Venture Investments and Roche Venture Fund.
The company will use the funding to expand its microbiome platform into indications associated with barrier function, insulin sensitivity, and immune regulation. It uses genomics, computational biology and phenotypic screening to identify the molecular mechanisms of the microbiome that cause disease.
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Its lead candidate, SGM-1019, is a small molecule inhibitor of an pain- and inflammation-causing target mediated by the microbiome. It’ll enter clinical proof-of-concept studies to treat these symptoms in ulcerative colitis.
New investors include Digitalis Ventures, Adveq, LifeForce Capital, MBL Venture Capital, and Mayo Clinic. Other Series A investors have hopped on this round as well: Advanced Technology Ventures, Morgenthaler Ventures, Seraph Group and individual investor Matthew Winkler.
Other heavily funded microbiome startups include Seres Health and Enterome – the latter which received $16.5 million from Nestle Health just yesterday.
“Our approach to developing novel therapeutics based on secreted functional proteins, peptides, and metabolites from the microbiome is highly relevant to the pharmaceutical industry,” Second Genome CEO Peter DiLaura said in a statement. “This financing will enable us to accelerate our efforts to scale our unique microbiome discovery platform and reach several major inflection points, including key milestones for the SGM-1019 clinical program and other therapeutic programs.”
