Microbiotica

Microbiotica is a British microbiome therapeutics company founded in 2016 as a spin-out of the Wellcome Sanger Institute by Mike Romanos, Trevor Lawley and Gordon Dougan. It is based near Cambridge at Chesterford Research Park. Its platform combines gut bacteria isolation, a reference genome database and bioinformatic and machine learning tools, used to develop biomarkers and orally administered live bacterial therapeutics. The most advanced candidate is MB310, a once-daily capsule of eight bacterial strains for ulcerative colitis. In the phase 1b COMPOSER-1 study of 29 adults with mild-to-moderate disease, 12 of 19 patients on MB310 reached clinical remission against 3 of 10 on placebo; the primary objective was safety, which was met. The second candidate, MB097, is being developed in oncology for advanced melanoma in combination with pembrolizumab. On 16 October 2026 the company announced the first close of a £36 million Series C led by the British Business Bank, with Tencent, IP Group, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Flerie Invest and Seventure Partners. The money is meant to take MB310 into a randomised phase 2 trial. Partners named by the company include MSD, Cancer Research UK and Genentech.