- Clinical-stage microbiome drug development company Finch Therapeutics announced that it has raised a $90 million Series D funding round
Clinical-stage microbiome drug development company Finch Therapeutics announced that it has raised a $90 million Series D funding round. New investors in this round include Baupost Group, Humboldt Fund, MSD Capital, MSD Partners, Octave Group, and OMX Ventures along with support from existing investors, including Avenir Growth Capital, OCV Partners, Shumway Capital, SIG, SymBiosis, TPTF, and Willett Advisors.
Finch plans to use the proceeds from the financing to advance CP101 through the final stages of clinical development and regulatory submission in recurrent C. difficile infection (CDI) and to advance its platform and pipeline, including the initiation of Phase 1b studies evaluating FIN-211 for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and CP101 for chronic hepatitis B (HBV).
The funding builds on recent progress by Finch with its lead candidate CP101, an investigational oral microbiome drug designed to deliver the full diversity of a healthy gut microbiome, meeting its primary efficacy endpoint for the prevention of recurrent CDI in a large placebo-controlled trial earlier this year. And Finch also recently announced the initiation of a program to evaluate CP101 for the treatment of chronic HBV, building off pre-clinical and clinical studies suggesting that delivery of a complete microbiome may drive viral clearance through stimulation of the innate immune response.
Finch’s proprietary pipeline also includes FIN-211, an investigational oral microbiome drug initially targeting the treatment of children with ASD that suffer from serious gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms. And FIN-211 is designed to re-establish a normal microbiome composition and function, building off pre-clinical and clinical studies suggesting that GI and behavioral symptoms may be linked to a disrupted microbiome.
In partnership with Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Finch is also developing investigational oral microbiome drugs composed of rationally-selected strains designed to target specific mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease. Finch’s first program with Takeda is focused on the development of FIN-524 for ulcerative colitis. And after achieving key pre-clinical milestones with FIN-524, Finch and Takeda expanded their partnership to include the development of FIN-525 for Crohn’s disease.
KEY QUOTES:
“We are delighted to have the support of this strong syndicate to advance our platform and pipeline. The microbiome field is at an exciting inflection point, with recent positive clinical data from our trial in recurrent C. difficile and other clinical data suggesting that microbiome drugs may become the next major therapeutic class to transform patient care.”
— Mark Smith, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Finch Therapeutics
“This additional funding positions us well for our next stage of development. In addition to advancing our lead candidate CP101 for recurrent C. difficile, we look forward to rapidly evaluating CP101 for the many other conditions linked to microbiome disruption, starting with a trial in chronic hepatitis B.”
— Gregory Perry, Chief Financial Officer of Finch Therapeutics
“By starting their discovery process with insights mined from clinical data, Finch is pioneering a new and very promising approach to drug discovery. Recurrent C. difficile is only the tip of the iceberg, with dozens of proof-of-concept human microbiota transplantation studies demonstrating the potential of this approach for a wide variety of indications. With their platform, Finch is uniquely positioned to translate many of these exciting insights into promising new microbiome therapies.”
— Nick Haft, Managing Director of OMX Ventures
