Newly launched startup Arranta Bio secures $82M in new funding to provide contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) for microbiome pioneers

Arranta Bio, a tech startup launched this year to provide contract development and manufacturing services to pioneering innovators working on new therapies targeting diseases linked to the human microbiome, has closed $82 million funding round. The round was led by a sole institutional investor, Ampersand Capital Partners, company founders and colleagues, and a strategic investment from Thermo Fisher. In addition to the funding, the startup also announced a strategic partnership with Thermo Fisher Scientific.

Founded in May 2019 by CEO Mark Bamforth, the Watertown, MA-based Arranta Bio is a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) specifically established to focus on serving companies seeking to develop and commercialize therapies targeting the human microbiome. The company is headed by a management team and technical experts with a proven track record in both process development and contract manufacturing through fermentation to lyophilization and encapsulation of live biopharmaceuticals, it offers the knowledge and resources necessary to help clients to develop and manufacture promising new microbiome therapies to meet the needs of patients. Arranta is establishing late clinical and commercial-ready capacity at a new facility in Watertown, Massachusetts, USA, which will come online mid-2020.

Commenting on the funding, Mark Bamforth, Arranta’s Founder and CEO, said, “The microbiome is an expanding area of clinical development with the potential to impact many serious diseases, and Arranta is focused on helping pioneering companies in this field with a reliable, high-quality clinical and eventually commercial supply.”

Industry veteran Mark Bamforth previously founded, grew and subsequently sold Gallus Biopharmaceuticals and Brammer Bio, both of which today are a part of Thermo Fisher. Iain Baird has been instrumental in establishing the company as co-founder and will continue to support its growth. In addition, Arranta has built a strong leadership team, including Steve Favaloro as Chief Financial Officer, and Lana Gladstein as Chief Legal Officer & General Counsel, to drive the growth of the company.

By partnering with Thermo Fisher, Arranta will have access to the company’s full suite of products and services and will provide materials to Thermo Fisher for use in gene therapy production. Michel Lagarde, Executive Vice President for Thermo Fisher, said, “We are pleased to be able to partner with the Arranta team to support customers in their clinical development of novel biopharmaceuticals to improve patient health.”

Almost 200 companies are actively exploring the linkage between the microbiome – millions of bacteria, fungi, protozoa and viruses that live inside and on the human body – and diseases in order to identify therapeutic targets. Scientists have called it the second genome, and in fact, the number of genes in the microbes making up one person’s microbiome is 200 times the number in the human genome.

Over the last decade, there has been rapid acceleration in scientific understanding of the composition and functions of the gut microbiota. Arranta is proud to be building a business to support the supply needs of these innovators.