Bactolife, a Copenhagen-based gut microbiome health company, has raised $5M from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The company will use the funds to accelerate its technology platform’s impact to develop Binding Proteins, a novel biologic solution to reduce the risk of gut infections in humans and animals.
Mads Laustsen, CEO at Bactolife, comments, “With this investment, Bactolife can boost our efforts in our technology platform, allowing us to reach our end customers faster and with affordable products that benefit the many – thereby potentially impacting millions of peoples’ lives worldwide.”
The problem
Globally, there are more than 1.6B cases of diarrheal diseases annually, which at best means stomach upsets. At worst, they can lead to life-threatening illnesses.
Around 760,000 children die annually from gut infections, and of those who survive, both infections later in life and growth stunting are observed. Especially in developing countries with poor access to clean water and sanitation, gut infections constitute a significant risk.
While most infections are treated with expensive antibiotics, Bactolife takes a unique approach to gut health by developing Binding Proteins that can reduce the risk of developing gut infections at an affordable price.
How Bactolife is solving it?
Founded by Mads Laustsen and Sebastian Søderberg, Bactolife uses its proprietary Binding Protein technology to develop novel biological solutions to strengthen the gut microbiome and help solve the daunting challenge of antimicrobial resistance development.
The company’s proprietary platform comprises technology for selecting and producing Binding Proteins without targeting growth or killing the bacteria directly.
Bactolife says Binding Proteins are stable and highly cost-effective and can be produced at a large scale using leading-edge systems for biomanufacturing.
Sebastian Søderberg, Deputy CEO at Bactolife, adds, “We are proud of and humble for the confidence the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has shown us. In addition, we are pleased to receive funding from Novo Holdings and the Gates Foundation. We consider this a strong validation of Bactolife’s potential to improve human and animal health worldwide and make these products accessible in developed and developing countries.”
Aleks Engel, Partner, Novo Seeds, Novo Holdings, says, “At Novo Holdings, we are very pleased that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has decided to invest in Bactolife – and we see that this testifies to the immense potential of Bactolife’s Binding Protein™ platform to circumvent and avoid antimicrobial resistance. In addition, our shared concern for global access to effective treatments for prevalent infectious diseases makes the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation an ideal organization to collaborate with, and we are excited for the potential impact this work will have in addressing pressing global health challenges.”
