Seres Health, a clinical-stage therapeutics company developing novel products to treat a host of disease conditions based on scientific findings related to the human microbiome, announced today that it has closed its $10 million Series B financing that included existing investors Flagship Ventures and Enso Ventures, and included new investors, Mayo Clinic, Alexandria Venture Investments, and several private investors. The company has also entered into an exclusive research collaboration with the Mayo Clinic.
Seres will use the Series B proceeds to advance its rapidly growing pipeline of Ecobiotic® therapeutics including its lead candidate, SER-109, which is currently in clinical testing for the treatment of recurrent C. difficile. "Our success to date with our lead program has enabled its acceleration, as well as increased the speed of development of candidates for other conditions," said Dr. Roger J. Pomerantz, President, CEO and Chairman of Seres Health. "This latest funding will allow us to more quickly advance SER-109 and further develop new products for patients."
The Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine will collaborate with Seres to define diseases for which a microbiome-based intervention may change the course of the illnesses, as well as the discovery and development of key means to treat such conditions.
"We are excited about this collaboration because it allows us to deepen our understanding of interactions between the gut microbiome and clinical disease while simultaneously offering the latest treatments for our patients," said Heidi Nelson, M.D., director of the Microbiome Program in the Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine. "With Seres, we will be able to offer microbiome-based therapies on a trial basis for patients who may not be experiencing relief from traditional treatments."
"By combining Mayo Clinic's leading clinical and research experience with Seres' insights into the microbiome, we can increase the discovery and development of our unique microbiome-targeted products," said Dr. Pomerantz. "We are extremely pleased to be working with Mayo Clinic and look forward to pursuing our goals to bring therapies to patients for microbiome-driven diseases, for which current therapeutic paradigms have fallen short."
Revenue Mayo Clinic receives from the activities described in this press release will be used to support its not-for-profit mission in patient care, education and research.
Inside the Alzheimer's Association: Dr. Heather Snyder on Driving Research and Collaboration