Biomia, the first company spun out from BioInnovation Institute’s Bio Studio program, just announced that they have secured USD 3M in pre-seed financing from an international syndicate of investors. The financing was led by BlueYard Capital, followed by Amino Collective and Nucleus Capital, and the investment will allow Biomia to accelerate its development of plant-inspired natural and new-to-nature halogenated small molecule drug candidates and further build its biosynthetic manufacturing platform.
The team behind Biomia joined the Bio Studio program on January 1st, 2020, and has since benefitted from BII’s help in many ways. They have been granted access to BII’s vast network of investors, gotten help shaping their storytelling and pitch deck, received guidance on monitoring their milestone developments and scientific progress, and been offered general business development advice and expertise.
Chief Innovation Officer at BioInnovation Institute, Trine Bartholdy, states that Biomia’s development has been impressive and showcases the potential of BII’s Bio Studio program.
“Biomia is at the forefront of innovation in the biosynthesis field. Through our Bio Studio program, we are proud to have helped and guided the team with both scientific and commercial maturation to spin out a company and raise investment from an international syndicate of investors. This is an outstanding example of how we support platform technologies based on world-class science to become viable companies that can positively impact human and planetary health,” she says.
Exciting small molecule drug candidates
The company has developed a pipeline of plant-inspired natural and new-to-nature halogenated small molecule drug candidates (Monoterpenoid Indole Alkaloids, in short MIAs) for unmet medical needs in pain, addiction, and mental health conditions. The company aims to generate improved drug candidates with optimized ADME properties and tox profiles by using its unique ability to design and integrate halogenation into the design of new-to-nature MIA drug leads.
According to Jason Whitmire, General Partner at BlueYard Capital, Biomia shows excellent promise and can redefine the biosynthetic landscape of drug discovery.
“We are very impressed by the vision and expertise of the Biomia team and excited to support their continued efforts to bring forth novel solutions for unmet medical needs, particularly in pain, addiction, and depression. With the commitment of its visionary founding team, strategic partnerships, and diverse funding support, Biomia is poised to redefine the biosynthetic landscape of drug discovery and contribute to improving patient outcomes worldwide”.
A strong ecosystem shaped the company’s commercial potential
The CEO of Biomia, Michael Krogh Jensen, emphasizes that the company wouldn’t have been able to progress to its current stage without the support of a robust Danish life science ecosystem.
“We would like to thank the Novo Nordisk Foundation, The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability at DTU, and BioInnovation Institute for their support. We also owe thanks to EU’s Framework Programme for Research and Innovation and our strategic collaborators from this program. We are very pleased to welcome a strong syndicate of investors with expertise in our field. The successful conclusion of Biomia’s pre-seed financing marks a pivotal step forward in the company’s mission to design and develop groundbreaking plant-inspired new-to-nature small molecule drug candidates for patients with unmet needs,” says Michael Krogh Jensen, co-founder and CEO of Biomia.