Bactolife, a Danish startup on a mission to unlock a novel category of gut health ingredients with binding proteins, has raised a €30 million+ ($35 million+) Series B round to commercialize its technology.
Led by Cross Border Impact Ventures (CBIV) and EIFO (the Export and Investment Fund of Denmark), alongside existing investors Novo Holdings and Athos, the round will enable Bactolife to launch its first products under the ‘Helm’ brand in the US this year with expansion into Asia and Europe in the following years.
CEO Sebastian Søderberg said the cash injection would fund human clinical studies and help the firm commercialize ingredients for humans (dietary supplements, functional food & beverages) and animals (feed additives).
Why it matters
Probiotics (live microorganisms that confer health benefits) add to the mix of beneficial bacteria in the gut, while prebiotics provide food for these “good” bacteria. Antibiotics, meanwhile, are blunter instruments that kill harmful and good bacteria alike and can significantly disrupt the microbiome.
Binding proteins, in contrast, are precision tools that selectively lock on to metabolites produced by the unhealthy microbes in the gut and prevent them from getting through the gut barrier.
Once they bind to their targets, the unhealthy metabolites in question move through the GI tract and are flushed out, without disrupting the microbiome or causing damage, says Bactolife, which was inspired by igG fragments found in immunoglobulins in the milk of camelids (camels, llamas, and alpacas) that are known to confer immune health benefits.
Rather than extracting the proteins from camel milk, Bactolife engineers microbes to express them at scale via precision fermentation.
The go to market strategy
Bactolife anticipates securing self-affirmed GRAS [Generally Recognized as Safe] status for its first two binding proteins in Q1 of this year, with submissions in the EU and Asia to follow, US general manager Liz Spence told AgFunderNews.
“We’re also putting together a dossier with everything that would be needed for full FDA GRAS notification.”
She added: “We already have a handful of commercial partners on board in the US and we will be looking to partner with more in dietary supplements, direct to consumer dietary supplements, and in the healthcare practitioner segment.”
Partners are interested in developing products with Bactolife binding proteins as standalone ingredients or in combination with other microbiome health ingredients such as pre- and probiotics, she said. “We’re conducting human [clinical] studies here in the US, starting in healthy populations and we will also be running studies in UK.”
On the manufacturing front, she said, “We are poised with our global manufacturing partners to be able to deliver at scale.”
Over the course of the next three to five years, Bactolife aims to launch a whole portfolio of binding proteins that have applicability across the most common gut health concerns, she added.
Leaky gut
Spence, a food and ag industry veteran who has worked in senior roles at Cargill, Verily, and Mineral.ai, acknowledged that binding proteins are a new concept for consumers.
However, many people are aware that harmful bacteria can cause digestive issues, that a “leaky gut” is harmful, and that there is a connection between the gut microbiome and overall health, she said.
And this presents an opportunity for Bactolife to speak to specific buckets of consumers, from travelers to people experiencing periods of heightened stress, to the elderly, for whom changes in immune function and other factors associated with aging can create challenges in maintaining optimal gut health.
“One of our first binding proteins that will be going to market has the potential to help individuals with compromised gut health, such as people recently on antibiotics, and the elderly at nursing homes or hospitals,” she said. “These groups are especially susceptible to gut issues – from mild to severe.”
‘A way to proactively rebalance the gut’
Unlike probiotics (which as live microbes do not work in many food applications), binding proteins (which are heat and pH stable) can be used in a wide range of food and supplement applications. They are also highly effective in very small doses [100-200 milligrams], claimed Spence.
Unlike some animal-derived IgG solutions on the market, she said, they also work effectively at low doses and are easy to formulate with. “They are also vegan-friendly, allergen-free, and lactose-free.”
She added: “We see this as a unique additive to the current suite of gut health solutions. I think consumers more and more are understanding that ‘biotics are important for feeding and seeding beneficial bacteria, but everyone, over the course of their life goes through a time of unbalance or struggle with their gut. And during those times, there aren’t a lot of other tools to help remove what does not belong.
“Binding proteins are a way to proactively rebalance the gut. So if you know you’re going on a trip, or there’s an upcoming time of potential gut stress, take this product before, during, and after to maintain that balance or play it safe and include it in your daily supplement regimen.”
Further reading:
Beyond ‘biotics: Bactolife plans US debut with intriguing new approach to gut health
BiomEdit raises $18.4m Series B to expand designer probiotics platform
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