mbiomics Completes €30M Series A to Advance Microbiome Cancer Co-Therapy Toward Clinical Trials
Key Insights
Munich-based mbiomics (search) has completed its Series A funding round at €30 million to advance its lead microbiome therapeutic MBX-116 (search) toward clinical evaluation in advanced melanoma (search).
The company's Live Biotherapeutic Product is designed as a co-therapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors, with a Phase 1B study planned for 2027 in second-line melanoma (search) patients.
mbiomics (search) uses AI-driven platform technology to design defined bacterial consortia that aim to overcome the scalability and variability challenges of traditional fecal microbiota transplants.
Munich-based techbio company mbiomics (search) GmbH has completed the third and final closing of its Series A funding round, raising €30 million to advance its microbiome-based cancer therapeutic toward clinical trials. The latest €12 million tranche was provided by existing investors MIG Fonds (search) and Bayern Kapital (search), concluding a round that began in March 2023.
The funding will support two critical milestones: strengthening the IND-enabling pharmacological data package for the company's lead candidate MBX-116 (search) and accelerating GMP-grade manufacturing development. mbiomics (search) is preparing for clinical evaluation of MBX-116 as an immune checkpoint inhibitor (search) co-therapy in advanced melanoma (search), with a Phase 1B study planned to begin in 2027.
Addressing Microbiome Therapeutic Scalability
"While the clinical potential of the gut microbiome (search) is well understood, transforming microbiome-based therapeutics into a scalable product has remained a significant engineering challenge," said Dr. Johannes B. Woehrstein, CEO and Co-Founder of mbiomics (search). "At mbiomics, we are solving this challenge by building the full technology stack for the design, analysis, screening, and manufacturing of complex microbial consortia."
mbiomics (search) develops Live Biotherapeutic Products (search) (LBPs), oral therapeutics composed of live bacterial strains designed to restore the functional and metabolic potential of the gut microbiome (search) in a pharmaceutical-grade format. This approach addresses the inherent limitations of Fecal Microbiota Transplants (FMTs), which have demonstrated clinical efficacy across multiple indications but remain variable and non-scalable.
The company's proprietary platform combines AI/ML-driven consortia design, proprietary analytical technology, large consortium co-cultivation, and screening capabilities. The AI layer identifies candidate bacterial strains and designs specific combinations most likely to produce defined therapeutic effects in defined patient populations.
Clinical Evidence Supporting Microbiome-Cancer Immunotherapy
The gut microbiome (search) modulates immune system response through multiple mechanisms, including microbial metabolites such as short-chain fatty acids and tryptophan-derived compounds that regulate immune cell activation and dendritic cell activity. This biological foundation has generated substantial clinical evidence linking microbiome composition to checkpoint inhibitor response.
A landmark trial by Routy et al. demonstrated that FMT from immune checkpoint inhibitor (search)-responsive donors significantly improved outcomes in patients with refractory melanoma (search), achieving objective response rates of 65% in some cohorts. Conversely, patients receiving broad-spectrum antibiotics within 30 days of starting checkpoint inhibitor therapy consistently showed worse outcomes across multiple tumor types.
Specific bacterial taxa, including Akkermansia muciniphila and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, have been repeatedly identified as enriched in immune checkpoint inhibitor (search) responders and mechanistically linked to enhanced effector T cell activity.
Clinical Development Timeline and Broader Pipeline
Based on this clinical rationale, mbiomics (search) is initially focusing on second-line melanoma (search) to evaluate MBX-116 (search)'s potential as a co-therapy to improve treatment outcomes. The Phase 1B study timeline of 2027 provides approximately 18 months for the company to complete IND submission and trial initiation.
"We are pleased to continue our support of mbiomics (search) in this financing round," commented Dr. Matthias Kromayer, Managing Partner of MIG Capital. "Since our initial investment, the team has made impressive progress in translating microbiome science into a scalable therapeutic approach."
Beyond oncology, mbiomics (search) is advancing a broader pipeline of microbiome-based therapeutics targeting indications where the gut microbiome (search) plays a central role, including autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases (search). The company's expansion into these additional therapeutic areas will likely be influenced by results from the melanoma (search) trial.
Founded in Munich in 2020 by Woehrstein, Dr. Markus Rinecker, and Dr. Laura Figulla, mbiomics (search) positions itself at the intersection of microbiology, AI-driven drug design, and precision medicine, aiming to access the gut microbiome (search)'s full immunological and metabolic potential to restore healthy microbial ecosystems.