Arranta Bio announced the completion of an $82 million funding round and a strategic partnership with Thermo Fisher Scientific.
Formed in May 2019, Arranta's goal is to be the best-in-class microbiome contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO). The business provides live biopharmaceutical products (LBPs) for microbiome pioneers by bacterial fermentation, isolation, drying and encapsulation.
Arranta's funding round was completed with sole institutional investor, Ampersand Capital Partners, company founders and colleagues, and a strategic investment from Thermo Fisher. Mark Bamforth, Arranta's Founder and CEO, said, "The microbiome is an expanding area of clinical development with the potential to impact many serious diseases, and Arranta is focused on helping pioneering companies in this field with a reliable, high-quality clinical and eventually commercial supply."
Arranta is establishing late clinical and commercial-ready capacity at a new facility in Watertown, Massachusetts, USA, which will come online mid-2020.
Industry veteran Mark Bamforth previously founded, grew and subsequently sold Gallus Biopharmaceuticals and Brammer Bio, both of which today are a part of Thermo Fisher. Iain Baird has been instrumental in establishing the company as co-founder and will continue to support its growth. In addition, Arranta has built a strong leadership team, including Steve Favaloro as Chief Financial Officer, and Lana Gladstein as Chief Legal Officer & General Counsel, to drive the growth of the company.
By partnering with Thermo Fisher, Arranta will have access to the company's full suite of products and services and will provide materials to Thermo Fisher for use in gene therapy production. Michel Lagarde, Executive Vice President for Thermo Fisher, said, "We are pleased to be able to partner with the Arranta team to support customers in their clinical development of novel biopharmaceuticals to improve patient health."
Almost 200 companies are actively exploring the linkage between the microbiome – millions of bacteria, fungi, protozoa and viruses that live inside and on the human body – and diseases in order to identify therapeutic targets. Scientists have called it the second genome, and in fact, the number of genes in the microbes making up one person's microbiome is 200 times the number in the human genome.
Over the last decade, there has been rapid acceleration in scientific understanding of the composition and functions of the gut microbiota. Arranta is proud to be building a business to support the supply needs of these innovators.