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Seventure Partners Life Sciences Corporate Update Health for Life: October - December 2020

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:

• In October, Seventure participated as a new investor in the $50M Series A financing round of Federation Bio, a company aiming to leverage the power of active microbial communities to address high unmet medical needs. The round was led by Horizons Ventures, and joined by existing investors Venrock and Altitude.
   
• In November, Seventure joined a $6.73 million Series A financing round in Dermala, a consumer dermatology company developing personalized, microbiome-based solutions for acne and other skin conditions. The round was co-led by Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JJDC, Inc. and True Wealth Ventures, with Cove Fund also joining.
   
• In December, it was announced that Seventure joined 200M Co-investment Fund with Portugal Ventures to provide EUR 5 million seed financing to LiMM Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company harnessing the molecular cross-talk between neuronal and innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) within peripheral tissues. LiMM will use the proceeds to continue the preclinical validation of its therapeutic portfolio, aiming to advance a first compound into the clinic in 2022.
   

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, BiomX appointed Paul Sekhri and Alan Moses, M.D., to its Board of Directors. Mr. Sekhri has extensive experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors, including senior leadership positions at Teva, Novartis and ARIAD Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Moses has worked for over 25 years in clinical drug development, most recently having held the position of Global Chief Medical Officer at Novo Nordisk.
   
• In November, BiomX announced the first dosing of a patient in its Phase 1a study of BX002, a phage therapy candidate for the treatment of IBD. The first-in-human study is aimed to evaluate safety, pharmacokinetics, and the ability of the orally administered candidate to deliver viable phage to the gut.
   
• Also in November, the company announced that phage were able to target and eradicate 89 per cent of distinct gut-harboured Klebsiella pneumoniae strains isolated in samples from patients with IBD and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC).
   
• In December, the company shared results of an analysis confirming that over 80 per cent of tumour samples analysed from patients with colorectal cancer showed presence of Fusobacterium nucleatum animalis as the most prevalent subspecies. BiomX also reported the successful engineering of a functional fluorescence gene payload into the Fusobacterium nucleatum phage.

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.

• In November, the company published a paper in European Respiratory Journal, detailing full results of its phase 2a study of GB0139 in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF). The results show the effect of inhaled GB0139 in IPF patients on the plasma levels of highly relevant disease biomarkers, which reduced in a dose dependent fashion from baseline in a consistent and statistically significant manner.
   
• Also in November, the company appointed Jayson Dallas to its Board of Directors. Dallas has extensive experience in pharmaceutical and biotech industries globally, most recently as CEO of Aimmune Therapeutics, acquired by Nestlé Health Science. He is member of the Board of Directors of Arena Pharmaceuticals and previously served in senior roles at Pfizer, Novartis, Roche and Ultragenyx Pharmaceuticals.
   

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.

• In December, the company reported positive updated data from its lead full-ecosystem microbiome restoration biotherapeutic, MaaT013. The results were based on a compassionate use/expanded access treatment programme with patients who developed acute Graft-versus-Host-Disease with GI involvement (GI aGvHD) following allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (allo-HCT) and were refractory to multiple lines of treatments, including corticosteroids. Treatment with MaaT013 was well tolerated and provided encouraging signs of efficacy.
   
• Further in December, the company announced an additional €7.35 million in an extension of its Series B financing round. Proceeds from the round will support the advancement of the company’s fermentation production platform for the development of large-scale, fully controlled microbiome ecosystem therapeutics, as well as facilitate production of MaaT013 to meet demands for the treatment of Graft-versus-Host Disease (GvHD) patients, under compassionate use.

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.

• In December, the company announced the treatment of the first volunteers of its Phase 1 clinical trial, evaluating Xla1 in the treatment of obesity and metabolic disorders. Xla1 is an oral biotherapy using the properties of a unique living bacterial strain of Christensenella, a keystone of the intestinal microbiome.
   

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.

• In October, the company reported additional pharmacokinetics data from a Phase 1 clinical study of VE202 in healthy volunteers. This came as an addition to topline data presented in June, reporting that the drug candidate was generally well-tolerated at all doses.
   
• In November, Vedanta appointed Troy Ignelzi as an independent member of its Board of Directors. Mr. Ignelzi has over 25 years of experience supporting life science companies, and helped oversee the transformation of privately held, clinical-stage companies to publicly traded biopharmaceutical firms.

Events

Over the coming months, Seventure will also be presenting at the following events:

• 25-28 January 2021 – NutrEvent
   
• 22-23 February 2021 – Animal Health Innovation Europe
  - Laëtitia Gerbe, Partner for Investments for AVF Fund, Seventure Partners

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

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Melanie Toyne-SewellManaging Partner