Microbiome mapping technology company Kanvas Biosciences has announced the acquisition of assets from California-based Federation Bio, bringing with it two active therapeutics programmes.
Kanvas Biosciences says the move allows it to transition from a tech company into a full-stack therapeutics company with active clinical programmes and a new cell banking facility in south San Francisco.
In addition to the two active therapeutics programmes, the deal comes with a microbial library and intellectual property from Federation Bio, allowing Kanvas Biosciences to fully enter the therapeutics industry.
Matthew Cheng, co-founder and CEO of Kanvas Biosciences, said: “Kanvas Biosciences is leading the way in understanding exactly how the microbiome benefits human health. This acquisition allows us to manufacture and clinically investigate complex microbial consortia much faster than previously envisioned.
“Rather than devote years to building a manufacturing process from the ground up, we are thrilled to be able to positively impact patients’ lives much faster by acquiring these key technologies.”
The two programmes included in the acquisition include the immuno-oncology programme, a standard therapy for many solid organ tumors such as melanoma, lung cancer and colon cancer.
The second is the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Programme, which is working to produce therapies for many diseases associated with the microbiome, including inflammatory bowel disease.
The acquisition comes after the announcement in February of this year of a strategic collaboration between the company and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center to develop a new microbiome treatment for immunotherapy-resistant cancer patients.
Cheng added: “The Kanvas Biosciences and Federation Bio teams have worked together synergistically for years on microbiome projects and I couldn’t be more excited about how much more we are going to accomplish with our combined platform technologies.”
As a result of this acquisition, Kanvas Biosciences has said that it is creating a first-in-category company capable of leveraging complex microbial therapies with hundreds of members simultaneously.
