A-Mansia Biotech S.A. (Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium) raised €13 million ($16 million) in the first close of a tranched series A round led by Seventure Partners with participation from Fonds Vives II, the SRIW Life Sciences, Nivelinvest and Pierre Drion.
A-Mansia is developing nutritional supplements, with plans to add a pharmaceutical pipeline, based on Akkermansia muciniphila, a gut microbe that is protective against obesity.
Founded in 2016, the company utilizes patented technology from scientific founders Patrice Cani from the University of Louvain and Willem de Vos from Wageningen University. de Vos and Cani have published studies showing that pasteurized A. muciniphilia can improve metabolic disorders and inflammatory conditions in mice fed with a high-fat diet. They also identified a membrane protein responsible for the microbe’s beneficial effects (see BioCentury Innovations, Jan. 12, 2017).
CEO Jean-Christophe Malrieu told BioCentury that while the first tranche of the round is largely earmarked for development of nutritional supplements, A-Mansia hopes to raise additional series A funds by year end to develop a pharmaceutical pipeline based on active components isolated from A. muciniphila in indications yet to be decided.
Malrieu declined to disclose the total series A round’s target.
Recent studies by other groups suggest A. muciniphilia could be harnessed for immunotherapy, as it restored anti-PD-1 efficacy in resistant, antibiotic-treated mice harboring melanoma or lung cancer tumors (see BioCentury Innovations, March 1).
The company expects to launch its first nutritional product in three years.
A-Mansia also secured €3 million ($3.7 million) in non-dilutive funding from the Walloon regional government.