INDIANAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Scioto Biosciences, a preclinical stage company developing innovative therapies to transform the delivery of microbiome therapeutics, today announced it has closed on $1.8M in Series A financing to support the launch of its new microbiome platform technology.
The funding represents a first-time interstate collaboration between two Indiana-based investors, BioCrossroads and Elevate Ventures, together with Ohio-based Rev1 Ventures, and follows a $330,000 Small Business Technology Transfer grant from the National Institute of Health (NIH) along with a $50,000 match from the State of Indiana.
“We are delighted that a team of important investors has shown confidence in our microbiome platform technology and sees its commercialization potential,” said Joe Trebley, CEO, Scioto Biosciences. “Our strong IP portfolio, executive and scientific team and working relationships with organizations like the Research Institute of the Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio has put us in a strong position to meet clinical needs in multiple therapeutic markets.”
Scioto Biosciences was founded in May 2017 when Nationwide Children’s Hospital licensed the microbiome platform technology to the company. Scioto’s novel technology will enhance the already promising microbiome field, which has attracted roughly $1.8B in venture capital funding since 2010.
One noteworthy solution Scioto Biosciences offers with its microbiome platform is combatting a serious condition impacting premature infants. Up to 10% of infants born under 3.3 pounds can develop necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), and mortality rates can be as high as 30%. Despite decades of research and treatment, preventive approaches for NEC have remained suboptimal. NEC is now the leading cause of death from gastrointestinal disease in premature infants with an associated cost of $500 million to $1 billion annually for treatment in the United States alone. Novel treatment approaches are critically needed, and Scioto Biosciences has the potential to become the standard of preventative care for this condition.
“As someone who routinely sees the devastating impact of NEC, working with the Scioto team to develop a groundbreaking preventative, probiotics-based solution is truly exciting and gives me hope,” said Gail Besner, Chief of Pediatric Surgery at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, co-inventor and co-founder of Scioto Biosciences.
“Working together with Scioto and studying the development of our microbiome platform, you can really see the potential for not only helping prevent NEC, but also tackling other disease states in both human and animal health,” said Steve Goodman, Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and also co-inventor and co-founder of Scioto. “This could change the delivery system of many developing microbiome treatments and help advance a rapidly-growing field.”
Scioto Biosciences will be participating in a panel at the Redefining Early Stage Investments (RESI) Conference, on June 4, 2018, in Boston, MA. The panel is a fifty-minute, moderated discussion among venture capital firms and executives active in the microbiome space discussing current opportunities and challenges with commercializing innovations. Visit their website for more details on the conference.
About Scioto Biosciences
Based in Indianapolis, Indiana, Scioto Biosciences is a preclinical stage company developing innovative therapies devoted to having a transformative impact on the delivery of microbiome therapeutics. The Scioto Platform has the potential to enhance efficacy wherever probiotics are used such as diabetes, neurological disorders, gastrointestinal health, alternatives to in-feed antibiotics (in livestock) and others. For more information, visit http://sciotobiosciences.com/.
About BioCrossroads
BioCrossroads (www.biocrossroads.com) is Indiana’s initiative to grow its life sciences industry, a public-private collaboration that supports the region’s research and corporate strengths while encouraging new business development. BioCrossroads provides money and support to life sciences businesses, launches new life sciences enterprises, expands collaboration and partnerships among Indiana’s life science institutions, expands science education and markets Indiana’s life sciences industry. The initiative supports the region’s existing research and corporate strengths while encouraging new business development and has formed several new nonprofit organizations, including Indiana Health Information Exchange, BioCrossroadsLINX, OrthoWorx, Datalys Center and the Indiana Biosciences Research Institute.
About Elevate Ventures
Elevate Ventures is a private venture development organization that nurtures and develops emerging and existing high-growth businesses into high-performing, Indiana-based companies. Elevate Ventures accomplishes this by providing access to capital, rigorous business analysis and robust advisory services that connect companies with the right mix of resources businesses need to succeed long term. To learn more about Elevate Ventures, visit elevateventures.com.
About Rev1 Ventures
Rev1 Ventures is the investor startup studio that combines capital and strategic services to help startups scale and corporates innovate. Based in the Midwest, and in the number one city for scaling startups, Rev1 aligns innovators and founders with corporate and research partners to access customers and markets, helping entrepreneurs build great companies. With a proven track record of identifying, guiding and investing in high potential startups, Rev1 helps companies solve real problems for markets in need of real solutions. Rev1 has more than $90MM in capital under management, providing a capital continuum from corporate and community partners, as well as the Ohio Third Frontier. Rev1 has been named among the Most Active VCs in the Great Lakes Region for the past three years in a row, according to Pitchbook. For more information, visit http://www.rev1ventures.com.
