British Patient Capital has invested in Microbiotica, a personalised medicine specialist, as part of a £50m Series B funding round.

The investment has been made via Future Fund: Breakthrough, our £375m programme where we co-invest with private sector investors in innovative, R&D-intensive UK companies. The round was led by Flerie Invest and Tencent, and included Cambridge Innovation Capital, IP Group and Seventure Partners.

Headquartered at the Chesterford Research Park near Cambridge, Microbiotica has developed technology which uses the body’s trillions of resident bacteria – known as the microbiome - to discover and develop therapeutic medicines and biomarkers for a range of disorders and diseases. The company’s current areas of focus are cancer immunotherapy and inflammatory bowel disease and it has established major clinical and academic partnerships in these areas.

Judith Hartley, CEO of British Patient Capital, said: “Microbiotica is a highly innovative UK company operating in the very important field of microbiome biology. Through its bioinformatics platform, it is generating therapeutic treatments targeting immuno-oncology and ulcerative colitis. It has a number of drug development programmes that are progressing to clinical trials. British Patient Capital, through our Future Fund: Breakthrough programme, is proud to support this world-class team as they continue to explore and commercialise this exciting new area of medicine.”

Mike Romanos, Co-Founder and CEO of Microbiotica, said: “This major fundraise is a substantial validation of both our team and our world-leading technology. We are fortunate to have the support from new and current investors who have recognised the importance of the microbiome’s therapeutic potential and Microbiotica’s unique capabilities. With this additional investment, we will be able to conduct clinical trials with our lead products in immuno-oncology and ulcerative colitis. We will also expand our portfolio of microbiome-based products which have the potential to benefit patients globally.”