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Novo Holdings portfolio company Bactolife – known for its gut microbiome-strengthening proteins, Binding Proteins – has raised over €30 million in funding. The financing round is led by Athos and includes participation from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and existing investors, including Novo Holdings. The capital will be used to accelerate Bactolife's "most advanced projects" towards commercial launch and strengthen both its technology platform and upscaling capabilities. In doing so, the company strives to maintain its "first-mover advantage to transform human and animal health with target-specific Binding Proteins," said Bactolife. Binding Proteins are milk-homologous proteins designed to attach to the toxins produced by gastrointestinal pathogens. The company explained that the Binding Proteins "represent a new paradigm within precision gut microbiome by bringing together state-of-the-art protein science with an affordable, broadly applicable, food and feed product registration".

Sebastian Søderberg, CEO of Bactolife, said: "We are very pleased and humbled by the continued confidence that investors have shown us, especially in times of geopolitical uncertainty and market turmoil. The funding allows us to increase our investments in our project pipeline, technology platform, organisation and upscaling capabilities. Further, it will enable Bactolife to accelerate our partnering efforts with world-leading companies and commercialise our first product concepts for humans and animals." Julian Zachmann, investment manager at Athos, stated: "Infectious diseases and increasing antimicrobial resistance are amongst the biggest threats to global health and development. We are committed to addressing this challenge and believe in Bactolife's targeted solutions." Aleks Engel, partner, Novo Holdings, added: "The successful Series A is another validation of Bactolife's impressive achievements and opportunity for the future. Bactolife is a great example of the strong Danish biotech ecosystem, as its technology platform originates from a Danish University, and was then further enabled by pioneering Danish biotech companies and talents. This bodes well for the future of not only Bactolife, but the Danish biotech sector as a whole. Further, I am very pleased that the international investors share our enthusiasm for finding solutions to the global AMR crisis. Combatting antimicrobial resistance requires all hands on deck."