Paris, France – 18 January 2021 – Seventure Partners, one of Europe’s leaders in financing innovation and a world leader in life science microbiome investment, is pleased to provide an update on its Health for Life investments for the period October to December 2020.
“The microbiome industry continued to grow dynamically in the fourth quarter of 2020, despite the ongoing pandemic. We have seen several funding rounds close successfully and an increasing interest in microbiome research, in all areas. With so much focus on the microbiome, we have decided to postpone the closing of our Health for Life II fund until this spring, even though our initial target of EUR 200 million has already been significantly exceeded.
“We expect 2021 to be a year that will see a heightened interest in the immune system and a healthy lifestyle. With a growing number of studies proving a link between the microbiome and human health, we anticipate that the microbiome field will be high on the agenda for everyone,” said Isabelle de Cremoux, CEO and Managing Partner, Seventure Partners.
Seventure News
In October, as part of web series by Pharmabiotics Online and Microbiome Times, Isabelle de Cremoux held a virtual talk titled “Microbiome Investment in a COVID World, is it Still a Priority?”, discussing the opportunities available to the microbiome industry to provide therapeutic and diagnostic solutions for the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
Health for Life II Fund investment news:
Industry News
With the growing number of gut microbiome research, there is also an increasing understanding of the various roles the microbiome plays in supporting human health.
Researchers from the University of California, San Diego, recently demonstrated that the makeup of a person’s gut microbiome is linked to the level of active vitamin D, as published in Nature Communications. It is hence suggested that greater diversity in the gut microbiome could be associated with better health in general, as vitamin D is important for bone health and immunity.
Elsewhere, a study from Australia, conducted by Centenary Institute, the University of Technology Sydney and the University of Queensland, shows that patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) present with notable changes to their gut microbiome. This suggests that the gut may be helpful for COPD diagnostics and may also be a potential new therapeutic target for the disease.
Health for Life Capital™ Portfolio News
Axial Biotherapeutics presented new data from the company’s Phase 1b/2a study of AB-2004 in male adolescents with autism in December, meeting the primary endpoints demonstrating safety, tolerability and adherence with no drug-related adverse events. Significant improvements were observed in adolescents with high irritability or high anxiety, as well as improvements in social withdrawal and gastrointestinal symptoms.
In October, BiomX Inc. (NYSE American: PHGE), a clinical stage company developing natural and engineered phage therapies that target specific pathogenic bacteria, presented pre-clinical data from its phage panel, comprising phage against Klebsiella pneumoniae, for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Data show a broad target host range and potential to address carbapenem-resistant and extended spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing bacteria.
In October, Galecto (NASDAQ: GLTO), a biotechnology company focused on the development of novel treatments for fibrosis and cancer, was listed on NASDAQ. The pricing of its initial public offering of 5,666,667 shares of common stock was at a public offering price of $15.00 per share.
MaaT Pharma, a French clinical stage company, announced in November, that it had treated its first patient in its Phase 1 clinical trial of MaaT033 in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) or high-risk Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS), following intensive chemotherapy. MaaT033 is aimed to provide a complete approach to restoring a functional gut microbiome and re-establishing immune system homeostasis to treat diseases.
Siolta, a clinical-stage biotech company, announced a collaboration and marketing agreement with Bio-Me, in November. Under the terms of the agreement, Siolta will provide samples and insights for Bio-Me to develop a rapid diagnostic test for infants at risk of developing allergy and asthma.
YSOPIA Bioscience, a French biotech company harnessing the properties of keystone single-strain bacteria to develop microbiome-based biotherapies, received €1.55M funding from Bpifrance and the European Regional Development Fund through Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region, in November. The new funding will drive YSOPIA’s biotherapeutics pipeline forward.
Vedanta Biosciences, a US based clinical-stage company developing a new category of therapies for immune-mediated diseases based on rationally-defined consortia of human microbiome-derived bacteria, received funding of $7.4 million from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to advance clinical development of VE303 for high-risk Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) at the end of September.
Events
Over the coming months, Seventure will also be presenting at the following events:
Notes To Editors
About Seventure Partners
With €750m net commitments under management as of the end of 2018, Seventure Partners is a leading venture capital firm in Europe. Since 1997, Seventure Partners has been investing in innovative businesses with high growth potential in two fields: Life sciences across Europe, Israel, Asia and North America and Digital technologies in France and Germany.
In Life sciences, the main areas of focus include “classic” approaches such as biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, diagnostic and medtech, industrial biotechnology, as well as “beyond the pill” approaches such as MICROBIOME-linked innovations, nutrition, foodtech, digital/connected health, wellbeing and personalized medicine& personalized nutrition.Investments can range between €500k and €10m per round, or up to €20m per company, from early to late stage.
Seventure Partners successfully launched Health for Life Capital™ which invests in Life sciences (health, nutrition, digital/connected health…) with a core focus on the microbiome revolution and its applications in human health, nutrition and food.
In March 2018, Seventure Partners launched AVF, a new fund dedicated to animal nutrition, feed and health with Adisseo as strategic partner. In July 2019, it launched Sport & Performance Capital, dedicated to innovations in Sport & wellness.
About Health for Life Capital™
Seventure Partners launched Health for Life Capital™, the first venture capital fund focused mainly on investments “beyond the pill” in the microbiome and nutrition space. Europe is the primary focus of the fund, but it also invests in North America, Asia and Israel.
The €160m first fund launched in 2014 has invested in 20 companies at the forefront of their fields, such as Enterome, Vedanta Biosciences, MaaT Pharma, Eligo Bioscience, LNC Therapeutics/Ysopia Bioscience, TargEDys, A-Mansia Biotech, BiomX, Microbiotica, Anaeropharma, LiMM Therapeutics, Siolta Therapeutics, DayTwo, Zipongo (renamed Foodsmart), Mdoloris Medical Systems, MycoTechnology, etc.
In January 2019 it launched second fund Health for Life Capital II™ with a target fund size of over €200m. Both first fund and second fund attracted strategic investments from prestigious organisations including Danone, Novartis, two US based global food ingredient providers (to be disclosed), Lesaffre, Tornier, Tereos, Unigrains and Bel, as well as financial institutions, family offices and entrepreneurs.
For more information please contact:seventure@instinctif.com
Melanie Toyne-SewellManaging Partner