# Microbiotica **Source:** https://geo.sig.ai/brands/microbiotica **Vertical:** BioTech **Subcategory:** Microbiome Therapeutics **Tier:** Emerging **Website:** microbiotica.com **Last Updated:** 2026-04-14 ## Summary Microbiotica raised $105M Series C in 2025 for its gut microbiome platform linking bacterial strains to disease, enabling live biotherapeutic products for cancer immunotherapy and IBD. ## Company Overview Microbiotica applies genomics and machine learning to map the gut microbiome's causal role in disease, then develops live biotherapeutic products (LBPs) targeting the specific bacterial strains responsible. The company's Reference Microbiome database — built from thousands of patient samples — is the world's most comprehensive catalog of gut bacteria linked to disease outcomes, providing a systematic foundation for microbiome drug discovery. Spun out of the Wellcome Sanger Institute in 2017, Microbiotica has demonstrated that specific microbiome compositions predict and mediate response to cancer immunotherapy (checkpoint inhibitors). Its lead programs aim to convert non-responders into responders by supplementing their microbiome with beneficial bacterial strains. Phase 1/2 trials in combination with anti-PD1 therapies are underway. The $105M Series C in 2025 will fund clinical advancement of Microbiotica's oncology and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) programs. As the microbiome field matures from correlation to causation, Microbiotica's database advantage and clinical momentum position it as a leader in what could become a multi-billion dollar therapeutic category. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What does Microbiotica do? Microbiotica develops live biotherapeutic products (LBPs) targeting specific gut bacteria linked to disease, with lead programs focused on enhancing cancer immunotherapy response and treating inflammatory bowel disease. ### What is Microbiotica's scientific edge? Microbiotica's Reference Microbiome database — built from thousands of patient samples at the Wellcome Sanger Institute — provides the world's most comprehensive mapping of gut bacteria to disease outcomes. ### How does the microbiome affect cancer treatment? Specific gut microbiome compositions predict and mediate response to checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy. Microbiotica's therapies aim to supplement non-responders' microbiomes with strains that enable better immune responses against tumors. ### What is Microbiotica's approach to microbiome therapeutics? Microbiotica combines the world's most comprehensively characterized human gut microbiome biobank (from the Wellcome Sanger Institute) with functional analysis platforms to identify specific bacterial strains causally linked to disease. Rather than delivering mixed microbiome consortia, Microbiotica develops defined, manufactured live biotherapeutic products (LBPs) with precise strain composition validated against clinical outcomes data from their biobank. ### What pipeline does Microbiotica have? Microbiotica's lead program is MB097, a defined gut bacterial consortium for Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) infection prevention in patients at high recurrence risk. Additional programs target inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and cancer immunotherapy enhancement — leveraging Microbiotica's discovery that specific microbiome signatures predict and potentially modulate response to immune checkpoint inhibitors like pembrolizumab. ### How much has Microbiotica raised and who are its partners? Microbiotica has raised over $70 million from investors including Pfizer Ventures, Unilever Ventures, and Cambridge Enterprise. A strategic collaboration with Genentech (Roche) in 2018 for microbiome biomarker and therapeutic development provided both validation and funding, though that collaboration has since concluded with data rights remaining with Microbiotica. ### What makes Microbiotica's biobank scientifically differentiated? Microbiotica's biobank (originating from the Human Gut Microbiome Atlas at the Wellcome Sanger Institute) contains thousands of individually cultured, whole-genome-sequenced gut bacterial strains linked to longitudinal clinical outcomes data from thousands of patients. Most microbiome companies work with metagenomics (sequencing stool samples without culturing individual strains) — Microbiotica's culture collection enables identifying which specific strains drive clinical associations and manufacturing them as defined therapeutics. ### What is the regulatory pathway for live biotherapeutic products? Live biotherapeutic products (LBPs) containing live microorganisms are regulated as biologics by the FDA (BLA pathway) rather than conventional drugs or dietary supplements. The FDA issued specific LBP guidance in 2016 requiring characterization of strain identity, safety in immunocompromised patients, and GMP manufacturing. This regulatory clarity has enabled several LBPs to advance to Phase 3 trials — including Seres Therapeutics' SER-109 (fecal microbiome transplant-derived) which received FDA approval in 2023 for recurrent C. diff, validating the category. ## Tags healthtech, technology, startup, b2b, global --- *Data from geo.sig.ai Brand Intelligence Database. Updated 2026-04-14.*