Microbiotica closes £36m series C led by British Business Bank with support from Tencent
This article covers Microbiotica, a Cambridge biotech startup, and its £36m series C funding round led by the British Business Bank to advance its lead microbiome therapy MB310 into a Phase 2 trial for ulcerative colitis. The funding aims to support clinical development of an oral live-biotherapeutic that targets epithelial barrier repair in ulcerative colitis and to underpin translation of UK microbiome research for patients, clinicians and investors.
Microbiotica has closed a £36 million series C funding round led by the British Business Bank to advance its lead microbiome therapy, MB310, into a Phase 2 trial for ulcerative colitis — a step that could validate a new, oral approach to repairing the gut epithelial barrier. The raise, which the company values at roughly $48 million, brings public and international investor support to a Cambridge biotech startup built from Wellcome Sanger Institute research.
Why it matters
Ulcerative colitis is a common and debilitating form of inflammatory bowel disease affecting millions worldwide, and many patients fail to achieve sustained remission on current treatments. Moving MB310 from a promising Phase 1b readout into a randomised Phase 2 trial signals a potential new modality: an oral, live-biotherapeutic designed to restore barrier integrity rather than primarily suppress immune activity. The size and profile of this series C also underline continued investor appetite for microbiome therapeutics in the UK life sciences market.
Inside the product
MB310 is a once-daily oral capsule composed of eight specific live gut commensal bacterial strains. Microbiotica says the formulation targets epithelial barrier repair and delivers anti-inflammatory effects, and reported that the COMPOSER-1 Phase 1b study met primary and secondary endpoints, showing statistically significant improvements in clinical remission versus placebo alongside improvements in histological measures and markers of intestinal epithelial barrier integrity. The company frames MB310 as compatible with existing ulcerative colitis therapies because of its safety profile.
The company’s platform is genomics-driven: a culture collection, a proprietary human reference genome database, and bioinformatics and machine learning tools that identify bacterial signatures associated with favourable clinical outcomes. That approach is being used to advance a broader pipeline, including MB097 for advanced melanoma, where early Phase 1b data suggest benefit when combined with KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab), MSD’s anti-PD-1 therapy.
Who are the investors?
The series C was led by British Business Bank with participation from Tencent, IP Group, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Flerie Invest, and Seventure Partners. The announcement also noted that all existing Series B investors took part in the round.
In the announcement, Carmine Circelli, Senior Investment Director, Life Sciences at the British Business Bank, said:
We believe Microbiotica is emerging as a world leader in the development of microbiome therapeutics. Its Phase 1b study in ulcerative colitis produced statistically significant clinical remission, best in disease potential with no safety issues. 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 in the treatment of ulcerative colitis. By investing in companies like Microbiotica, we help the UK's most promising life sciences companies to convert research into treatments while also building the UK’s thriving life sciences market.
In the announcement, Dr Sam Williams, Venture Partner at IP Group, said:
We have been very impressed by Microbiotica’s progress since we first invested in the Company, from translating pioneering microbiome science from the Wellcome Sanger Institute into a powerful genomics-driven microbiome platform that has generated promising efficacy in two Phase 1b clinical trials. 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 as it enters this next phase of development.
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Founder perspective
Microbiotica was spun out of the Wellcome Sanger Institute in 2016 and has built partnerships with MSD, Cancer Research UK, Genentech, the University of Adelaide, and Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The company is positioning its platform as a clinically led selection tool for therapeutic bacterial consortia, using trial datasets to prioritise strains linked to positive outcomes. Leadership has elected to prioritise MB310’s Phase 2 readout while continuing development of MB097 in oncology combinations.
The bigger picture
The series C illustrates two wider trends in the UK and European biotech ecosystem: sustained public-sector involvement in life sciences through vehicles like the British Business Bank, and growing investor conviction in microbiome-led therapeutics after a period of exploratory science. Microbiotica’s Cambridge base and collaborations with global partners underline the international nature of contemporary drug development.
This funding round also feeds into wider momentum among biotech investors in the UK, where clinical-stage companies that can show clear translational paths from genomic science to therapeutic candidates are increasingly able to attract cross-border capital.
Microbiotica’s next milestone — a successful Phase 2 confirmation of the Phase 1b signal — will be watched closely by clinicians, investors, and patient groups across the UK and Europe as a test case for precision, microbiome-based therapies.
They've invested in Microbiotica
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| Investors | Investment Focus | Startup Investments | Round Size | Connect |
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 British Business Bank( ) The British Business Bank focuses on enhancing finance accessibility for smaller... Sheffield  | ||||
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 Ip Group( ) IP Group focuses on visionary investments across life sciences, deeptech, and cl... London | ||||
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 Seventure Partners( ) Seventure Partners is an active partner for innovative companies in the digital ... Paris, France  | ||||
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