A female-led start-up developing a live biotherapeutic product to address infant gut needs, has raised £1.3M ($1.5M) in equity and grant funding.
BoobyBiome, founded by scientists Dr Lydia Mapstone, Dr Sioned Jones and Tara O’Driscoll, aims to develop a novel product for babies who do not have access to the microbiome in breast milk.
Working with Associate Professor Dr Mona Bajaj-Elliot at the Institute of Child Health in Great Ormond Street Hospital, they have uncovered a community of bacteria essential during the early stages of life. In collaboration with the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI), the company is creating a live biotherapeutic product for babies when breast milk is not available.
Mapstone, Jones and O’Driscoll commented: “Our new investors, Venrex, Discovery Park Ventures and Cade Hill, bring a range of complementary expertise to our company. BoobyBiome is very excited to be working with them and we thank them for their support.”
BoobyBiome has also been awarded funding by the Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst programme and Lydia and Sioned have received fellowships from the BBSRC Doctoral Career Development Fund.
The company is chaired by Colin Bennett, currently at the University of Oxford, Nuffield Department of Medicine, Centre for Medicine Discovery and previously the founding chair at EnteroBiotix.
