Indy biosciences company completes major funding round

INDIANAPOLIS (Inside INdiana Business) — Indianapolis-based Scioto Biosciences has closed on a $26.5 million Series B round of funding. The company, which primarily focuses on developing new drugs targeting brain and bowel diseases, says it will use the investment to further develop its lead drug candidate.

The funding round was led by Korea-based Genome & Co., as well as other investors. As a result of the deal, Genome has received a majority stake in Scioto and says the investment expands its presence in the U.S.

The companies say they will multilaterally cooperate on the research of new drug candidates. Scioto will also continue its research on SB-121, its lead drug candidate that targets disorders related to the gut-brain axis such as Autism Spectrum Disorder, as well as disorders related to gut injury such as Necrotizing Enterocolitis, which affects premature infants.

Scioto says the drug is built on its proprietary Activated Bacterial Therapeutics (ABT) platform.

“We are very much looking forward to partnering with Genome and Company to continue to develop the ABT platform,” said Joe Trebley, chief executive officer of Scioto Biosciences. “We are excited to have them as a development partner with deep microbiome expertise and better access to Asian markets.”

The Series B round follows other funding infusions for Scioto, including a $2.3 million National Institutes of Health grant in 2019 and a $1.8 million funding round the previous year.