Microbiome play MRM Health NV raises €55m in Series B

With €55m (US$64m) in Series B financing, MRM Health NV, which was spun out of VIB Gent in 2020, has also found a pharmaceutical partner for its anti-inflammatory Live Biotherapeutic Products (LBP). The main investor in the round, family-run Biocodex SA, has also taken an undisclosed stake in the company. The international pharmaceutical company, which developed the world’s first probiotic yeast strain, already has licensed pipeline products, such as a microbiome product for appetite control developed jointly with TargEDys, as well as certified cGMP production facilities.

In addition to the proof-of-concept of the patented butyrate-producing lead product MH002 for the control of chronic intestinal inflammation ulcerative colitis, the partnership aims to bring two additional defined patented bacterial consortia in IND status into clinical trials. In preclinical studies, MH002 inhibited inflammatory responses through greatly increased butyrate production and restored the epithelial barrier disrupted in ulcerative colitis in co-culture models and organoderm systems.

In addition to Biocodex, the German company ATHOS, BNP Paribas Fortis Private Equity and the previous investors SFPIM, Ackermans & van Haaren (AvH), OMX Ventures Europe (OMX), Qbic II and VIB participated in the financing.

MH002, which is already being tested in an ongoing Phase IIb study, is used in patients with mild to moderate ulcerative colitis. Phase IIa data confirmed the short-term safety of the world’s most advanced live biotherapeutic and provided encouraging initial evidence of efficacy in colitis and pouchitis patients.MH002 consists of six optimised  commensal bacterial strains that have been selected and optimised and manufactured using the company’s scalable cGMP production platform. The Coral production platform enables the cultivation of complete bacterial consortia in a single drug. The two IND-ready pipeline products are intended for use in the field of inflammation and immuno-oncology. MRM Health plans to expand its pipeline through strategic partnerships in the field of animal health as well.

As part of the financing, Jean-Patrick Hennebelle (Biocodex), Julian Zachmann (ATHOS) and Goedele Ertveldt (SFPIM) will join the supervisory board of MRM.