Microbiotica's $46M Series C: A New Era for IBD Treatment?

Jan de Vries · 2026-10-16

Microbiotica, a British clinical-stage biopharma company, just announced the first close of a €42 million ($46 million) Series C financing. That's a big deal for anyone following the future of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) treatment. The company is developing orally-dosed, precision microbiome medicines, and this cash injection will push their lead candidate, MB310, into Phase 2 trials for ulcerative colitis. ### Why This Matters for IBD Patients Ulcerative colitis is a chronic condition that affects millions worldwide. Current treatments often come with side effects or don't work for everyone. Microbiotica's approach? Harness the power of the gut microbiome to find bacteria that can actually heal the gut. Their Phase 1b study showed statistically significant clinical remission with no safety issues – that's a phrase you don't hear every day in biotech. ### The Investors Behind the Bet The round was led by British Business Bank, with participation from heavy hitters like 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 direction. Tim Sharpington, CEO of Microbiotica, put it simply: “This financing marks an important next stage for Microbiotica... 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.” ### A Wave of European Biotech Investments Microbiotica's news comes amid a flurry of related European biotech financings in 2026: - Germany's mbiomics raised an additional €12 million ($13 million), bringing its Series A to €30 million ($33 million). - UK-based OutPost Bio secured €2.9 million ($3.2 million) to expand its human microbiology modelling platform. - France's Bionyra Pharma landed €143 million ($157 million) for inflammatory disease treatments, including IBD. - Paris-based Generare raised €20 million ($22 million) for microbial-genome-based drug discovery. - London's Alchemab Therapeutics received €29.3 million ($32 million) from British Business Bank. Together, these deals represent about €207.2 million ($227 million) in new financing – and that's before you add Microbiotica's €42 million ($46 million). ### What Makes Microbiotica's Platform Special Founded in 2016 as a spin-out from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Microbiotica has built a genomics-driven microbiome platform that combines: - A diverse microbiome culture collection - A proprietary human Reference Genome Database - Advanced bioinformatics and machine learning tools When applied to clinical trial data, this platform can pinpoint bacteria linked to positive outcomes in specific patient groups. That's precision medicine at its finest. The company already partners with MSD, Cancer Research UK, Genentech, The University of Adelaide, and Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. > “We believe Microbiotica is emerging as a world leader in the development of microbiome therapeutics,” said Carmine Circelli, Senior Investment Director at British Business Bank. “Its Phase 1b study in ulcerative colitis produced statistically significant clinical remission... This funding allows the Company to move MB310 forward into a Phase 2 trial which, if it confirms the promise seen in Phase 1b, has the potential to be a major breakthrough.” ### The Road Ahead Phase 2 trials will be crucial. If MB310 replicates its Phase 1b success in a larger patient population, it could change how we treat ulcerative colitis. And with the backing of major investors, Microbiotica has the runway to make it happen. Dr Sam Williams, Venture Partner at IP Group, added: “We have been very impressed by Microbiotica’s progress... There is an important opportunity to advance Microbiotica’s precision microbiome approach into a larger clinical study, and we are pleased to continue supporting the Company.” For those watching the European startup scene, this is one to keep an eye on. It's not just about the money – it's about the potential to improve millions of lives.