BiomEdit, an Indiana-based animal health biotechnology company, has secured $18.4 million in Series B funding to advance its innovative designer probiotics platform, with its lead candidate BE-101 entering the final phase of USDA regulatory approval for commercial launch in late 2026.
The oversubscribed financing round was led by Anterra Capital with participation from animal nutrition company Nutreco, AgriZeroNZ, Elevate Ventures, and Betagro Ventures. The funding will support BiomEdit through conditional licensure and into the commercial launch of BE-101, which will be branded as "Optavant."
Revolutionary Probiotic Vectored Antibody Technology
BE-101 represents the first-of-its-kind probiotic vectored antibody (pvAb) product designed to prevent mortality from necrotic enteritis (NE) in broiler chickens. The product comprises genetically engineered microbes that express antibodies targeting toxins produced by Clostridium perfringens, the bacterium responsible for necrotic enteritis.
"This is an exciting chapter for BiomEdit. We are bringing a transformational poultry solution to U.S. broiler producers and pushing the frontiers of sustainable livestock production," said Aaron Schacht, CEO of BiomEdit. "In just three years since our founding, we are poised to deliver products to market, with new financing and investor support, as well as additional leadership well-suited for the opportunities and challenges ahead."
The administration method involves spraying the product on newly hatched birds. "They then peck and preen each other, and ingest the product which is colonizing bacteria, so they don't need a lot of it," Schacht explained. "The colony lasts for about two weeks and expresses the biomolecules that target the toxins. We then give a boost in the drinking water to replenish the colony, which gives us coverage for about five weeks of the growth cycle."
Addressing Significant Industry Losses
Necrotic enteritis causes an estimated $6 billion in annual losses to the poultry industry through mortality and reduced productivity. BiomEdit's solution has demonstrated promising results in large-scale NE challenge trials, showing reduced mortality and improved feed conversion rates.
The company has completed all required laboratory safety studies with USDA approval and received approval for a pivotal efficacy study for conditional licensure. Progress continues on the Federal Register Notice process prior to the field safety study.
Platform Development and Pipeline
BiomEdit's technology platform originated from extensive microbiome analysis conducted during its time as part of Elanco. The company analyzed over 10,000 samples from 7,500 animals including pigs, chickens, fish, cows, and dogs between 2016 and 2021, building a comprehensive database of animal microbiomes.
"We took advantage of something Elanco had unique access to, the intestinal or fecal content of thousands of animals, and built a library," Schacht noted. The platform combines genomic, metabolomic, and proteomic analysis with strain engineering and synthetic biology capabilities.
Beyond BE-101, the company is developing BE-01, an enzyme that degrades lipopolysaccharide found in gram-negative bacteria cell wall remnants. This product uses engineered microbes to produce the enzyme at scale for use as a feed additive, rather than delivering it through live microbes.
Strategic Partnerships and Team Expansion
BiomEdit has selected Diamond Animal Health as its contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) to support commercialization efforts. "We're proud to support BiomEdit in the advancement of this truly innovative biologic platform," said Dean Warras, CEO of Diamond Animal Health. "The development of BE-101 represents the future of animal health solutions and will be a game changer for the poultry industry."
The company has strengthened its leadership team with the appointment of Kristin Bloink, DVM, MPH, as Vice President of Development and Andrew Carlson as Chief Commercial Officer, both bringing extensive animal health industry experience.
Grant Funding and Future Applications
In addition to the Series B funding, BiomEdit has secured over $1.7 million in non-dilutive grants, including USDA funding for research on Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza using novel biologic approaches, an NIH award for early research into human therapeutic applications, and a Global Methane Hub grant to investigate rumen genetics for methane reduction in cattle.
The company is also advancing its methane-reduction platform with its first feed additive candidate undergoing evaluation to reduce methane emissions while boosting cattle productivity, representing potential applications beyond poultry health.
