Human beings, as we know, are known to be good at a lot of different things, but if we are being honest, there is nothing we do better than growing on a consistent basis. This ability, in particular, has allowed us to hit upon some huge milestones, with technology locked in as a major member of the stated group. The reason why technology gets to enjoy such a high stature among people is inspired by its unprecedented skill-set, which introduced us to all those possibilities that we could have never imagined otherwise. Mind you, though, the whole runner was also, at the same time, predicated upon the manner in which we used those skills. The latter component was, in fact, what the creation a spectrum-wide presence, including a very well-timed appearance on our healthcare block. The stated foray hit a home run in regards to timing because it came right when the sector was beginning to struggle against its own obsolete structure. The situation was, of course, revamped under the new regime, but even after doing so much to scale up the picture, the famous medtech concept will continue to deliver the right goods in one capacity or the other. The same has only turned more and more apparent over the recent past, and a recent funding might just get it to take another step sooner rather than later.
Novome Biotechnologies, a South San Francisco-based company focused on genetically engineered microbial medicines (GEMMs), has successfully secured over $43.5 million in Series B financing. Led by Tencent, the round saw further participation coming from the likes of University of Minnesota, Navian Investments, Colorcon Ventures, Touchdown Ventures, DCVC Bio, 5AM Ventures, Alta Partners and Alexandria Venture Investments. According to certain reports, the company will use the newly-raised cash to bolster clinical testing of its lead candidate, NOV-001. As a GEMM, NOV-001 is equipped to take bacteria found in the gut and engineering it to break down oxalate, a naturally-occurring metabolite that forms kidney stones. The drug has already displayed some positive signs in its Phase 1 trial, where it was able to safely treat the human gut with a genetically engineered microbe and control its abundance via once-daily dosing of porphyrin, a prebiotic polysaccharide.
Beyond that, Novome will dedicate a chunk of the funds towards the development of multiple preclinical GEMM candidates for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease.
At the moment, Novome is working on a Phase 2a trial for NOV-001. There, it has, interestingly enough, focused on patients suffering from enteric hyperoxaluria, which is a frequent complication that can occur as a result of an underlying gastrointestinal disorder. This intention is., of course, driven by the fact that people with enteric hyperoxaluria absorb more oxalate, so it can very well give us a feasible impression of how far the drug can go.
“Our team has made tremendous progress this year, including initiation of the Phase 2a portion of the enteric hyperoxaluria clinical trial of NOV-001 and advancing our platform capabilities, most notably developing the ability for our oral GEMMs to deliver high amounts of therapeutic proteins to the gastrointestinal tract through continuous, controlled secretion,” said Blake Wise, CEO of Novome. “Novome’s recent accomplishments and this new funding should further advance and validate our platform’s capabilities and unlock additional pipeline opportunities.”
