Microbiotica's $45M Raise Could Change IBD Treatment

Jan de Vries · 2026-10-16

Microbiotica, a British biopharma company, just announced the first close of a €42 million ($45 million) Series C round. That's a big deal for anyone following inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) treatments. The money will push their lead candidate, MB310, into Phase 2 trials for ulcerative colitis—a condition that affects millions worldwide. ### Who's Betting Big on Microbiome Medicine? The round was led by British Business Bank, with participation from Tencent, IP Group, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Flerie Invest, and Seventure Partners. All existing Series B investors joined in, which says a lot about their confidence in the company's progress. Tim Sharpington, Microbiotica's CEO, called the financing "an important next stage" and highlighted the company's ability to translate its genomics-driven platform into clinical-stage products. He also noted the development of a scalable, cost-effective manufacturing process—a crucial piece for any biotech aiming to bring a drug to market. > "We are now focused on taking MB310 into Phase 2 clinical development, where we have an opportunity to further establish MB310 as a breakthrough treatment option for people living with ulcerative colitis." — Tim Sharpington, CEO of Microbiotica ### A Wave of European Biotech Investment Microbiotica's news comes amid a flurry of related European biotech investments in 2026. Here's a quick rundown: - Germany's mbiomics secured an additional €12 million ($13 million), bringing its Series A to €30 million ($32 million) to advance microbiome-based therapeutics. - UK-based OutPost Bio raised €2.9 million ($3.1 million) to expand its human microbiology modelling platform. - France's Bionyra Pharma secured €143 million ($154 million) to develop treatments for inflammatory diseases, including IBD. - Paris-based Generare raised €20 million ($21.5 million) for microbial-genome-based drug discovery. - London's Alchemab Therapeutics received €29.3 million ($31.5 million) from the British Business Bank to advance its clinical pipeline. Together, these announcements represent approximately €207.2 million ($223 million) in newly reported financing. Include Microbiotica's first close, and that number jumps to €249.2 million ($268 million). Clearly, investors see huge potential in this space. ### Why Microbiotica Stands Out Founded in 2016 as a spin-out from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Microbiotica has built a powerful genomics-driven microbiome platform. It combines a diverse microbiome culture collection, a proprietary human Reference Genome Database, advanced bioinformatics, and machine learning tools. When applied to clinical trial datasets, the platform can identify bacteria associated with favorable outcomes in specific patient populations. That's precision medicine at its finest. The company has already established partnerships with major players like MSD, Cancer Research UK, Genentech, The University of Adelaide, and Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Not bad for a startup that's less than a decade old. ### What's Next for MB310? MB310 is an orally-dosed precision microbiome medicine. In a Phase 1b study, it produced statistically significant clinical remission in ulcerative colitis patients—with no safety issues. That's the kind of result that gets investors excited. Carmine Circelli, Senior Investment Director at British Business Bank, said: "If it confirms the promise seen in Phase 1b, [it] has the potential to be a major breakthrough in the treatment of ulcerative colitis." Dr. Sam Williams, Venture Partner at IP Group, added: "We have been very impressed by Microbiotica's progress since we first invested... There is an important opportunity to advance Microbiotica's precision microbiome approach into a larger clinical study." With this new funding, Microbiotica is well-positioned to do just that. And if MB310 delivers in Phase 2, it could reshape how we treat IBD—not just in Europe, but around the world.