SÃO PAULO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Following a US$ 3 million seed investment in 2022, Nintx (Next Innovative Therapeutics), a biotech company researching and developing treatments for multifactorial diseases using Brazil’s biodiversity, has just raised an additional US$ 10 million.
The investments will support the company’s plans for the coming years, which include accelerating the R&D of eight new drug programs (mostly in partnership with companies, such as Adeste and Centroflora, and research institutions, such as CIEnP and CNPEM, which houses Sirius, one of the largest particle accelerators in the world), hiring researchers, introducing new technologies, and expanding the laboratory.
Nintx employs an innovative approach to tackling multifactorial diseases caused by genetic and environmental factors as well as their interactions, especially those mediated by the human gut microbiome. The biotech focuses on multi-target therapies, leveraging proprietary technologies such as xGIbiomics®, which simulates the gastrointestinal system, and GAIApath®, a knowledge-graph data analytics platform that maps connections between plants, natural products, biological targets, the human microbiome, and multifactorial diseases.
Nintx’s business model involves advancing therapies to the end of preclinical studies, at which point it plans to license them to large pharmaceutical companies for clinical development and commercialization. The team anticipates that the first drug candidate will be licensed within three years.
Investors in the Series A round include venture capital firms Pitanga, Ecoa Capital and MOV Investimentos. Strategic partners Tiaraju and Adeste also invested to strengthen synergies between their businesses and Nintx. Guilherme Leal, co-founder of Natura and Dengo, and Peter Andersen, from Centroflora, remain shareholders. The Series A funds — unprecedented for a biotech startup in Brazil's pharmaceutical sector — are complemented with a grant of US$ 2.5 million by FINEP, a public company that promotes and finances science, technology and innovation.
“In the U.S. and Europe, biopharmaceutical startups that begin licensing innovative drugs to major pharma companies can achieve valuations in the hundreds of millions of dollars. We believe Nintx has the potential to follow the same trajectory,” says Gabriel Perez from Pitanga.
“What drew our attention was Nintx’s social and environmental impact potential, as it values biodiversity through agroforestry practices, investments in small farmers, and benefit-sharing agreements with communities that hold knowledge about these plants,” says Paulo Bellotti from MOV Investimentos.
New Leadership
The funding coincides with a leadership restructuring at Nintx. Stephani Saverio, who co-founded the company alongside scientists Miller Freitas and Cristiano Guimarães, assumes the role of CEO in January of 2025. Previously serving on the Board of Directors, Saverio now steps into an executive role.
With over 25 years of experience in major pharmaceutical groups, Saverio leaves the position of Global Vice President of Business Development at Knight Therapeutics, a pan-American specialty pharmaceutical company, to take on the challenge at Nintx.
“The new C-level structure, where Saverio becomes CEO, I assume the role of CDO (Chief Development Officer), and Cristiano remains CSO (Chief Scientific Officer), has been part of our strategic plan for this next phase of the startup,” says Freitas.
“Nintx is a rare case in Brazil as most companies in the country are focused on established technologies, resulting in a lack of global competitiveness. We are on track to establish a biotech company focused on truly innovative therapies—a pioneering approach in Brazil’s pharmaceutical industry,” Saverio adds.
About Nintx
Nintx develops a new generation of medicines leveraging biodiversity, primarily from Brazil. One of its key innovations is a broader approach to tackling multifactorial diseases, caused by genetic and environmental factors as well as their interactions via the human gut microbiome. Multifactorial diseases include metabolic, immunological, cancer, and brain disorders. Nintx develops therapies targeting biological pathways directly and indirectly through gut microbiome modulation—both closely linked to the onset or worsening of multifactorial diseases.
