Microbiotica, a Cambridge, UK-based clinical-stage biotechnology company developing precision microbiome medicines, announced the first close of a £36 million ($48 million) Series C financing round on October 16, 2026.
The funding was led by British Business Bank, with participation from Tencent, IP Group, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Flerie Invest, and Seventure Partners. All investors from the company’s previous Series B round participated in the financing.
Founded in 2016 by Mike Romanos, Trevor Lawley, and Gordon Dougan, Microbiotica originated as a spin-out of the Wellcome Sanger Institute. The company develops orally administered precision microbiome medicines known as live biotherapeutic products (LBPs), which use selected bacterial strains to target specific medical conditions.
Microbiotica’s drug discovery platform combines a collection of cultured gut bacteria, a proprietary human Reference Genome Database, bioinformatics, and machine learning tools. These capabilities help identify bacterial strains associated with favourable clinical outcomes and support the development of targeted microbiome therapies.
The new capital will support the advancement of Microbiotica’s lead drug candidate, MB310, into Phase 2 clinical development for ulcerative colitis, a chronic inflammatory bowel disease.
MB310 is a once-daily oral capsule containing eight specific strains of live gut bacteria. It is designed to promote repair of the intestinal epithelial barrier and produce anti-inflammatory effects.
The planned Phase 2 trial follows results from the COMPOSER-1 Phase 1b study. According to Microbiotica, the study met its primary and secondary endpoints and demonstrated statistically significant improvements in clinical remission compared with placebo. The next trial is planned as a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.
Led by CEO Tim Sharpington, Microbiotica is also developing MB097, a microbiome-based treatment being evaluated alongside KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) in patients with advanced melanoma. The programme has progressed into an extension phase of its Phase 1b clinical study.
The company previously secured £50 million in Series B financing in 2022. As part of the latest Series C round, IP Group invested an additional £4 million, continuing its financial support for Microbiotica’s clinical development programmes.
