SNIPR-001

A trio of biotechs closed private funding rounds on Thursday, raising a total of about $325 million. The financings are a bright spot for the broader biopharma industry, which has seen a downturn in available venture capital this year (see – Vital Signs: How venture capital is making Europe great again).Leading the pack was Strand Therapeutics, which clinched a $153-million series B, followed closely by Minghui Pharmaceutical and its $131-million pre-IPO round. Rounding out the pack was SNIPR Biome, raising €35 million ($40.8 million) in a series B.Strand's mRNA therapiesAfter pulling back the curtain on its programmable mRNA technology at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting earlier this year, Strand has now secured funding to advance its pipeline. Kinnevik led Thursday's round, which brings Strand's total funding to over $250 million, following a $97-million series A closed in 2023.New investors Regeneron Ventures, ICONIQ, Amgen Ventures, Alderline Group, JIC-VGI, LG Technology Ventures and Gradiant Corporation, also participated in the round, along with existing backers including FPV Ventures, Playground Global, Eli Lilly, ANRI and Potentum.The biotech's lead candidate, STX-001, expresses the immunomodulatory protein IL-12 directly from the tumour microenvironment to spark a broader immune response. Unlike traditional mRNA therapies, Strand's approach uses self-replicating mRNA to ensure localised and durable therapeutic activity.Phase I data presented at ASCO showed that, of 22 patients with advanced solid tumours refractory to immune checkpoint inhibitors who were treated with STX-001 monotherapy, there was one confirmed complete response, several partial responses and multiple cases of prolonged disease stabilisation.The company has not provided a timeline for moving STX-001 into Phase II testing. Strand is also developing an intravenous, systemically delivered version of the therapy, dubbed STX-003.Minghui moves PD-1/VEGF bispecific forwardMinghui's financing, co-led by Qiming Venture Partners and OrbiMed, will help it advance a bispecific antibody against two of the hottest targets in the oncology space: PD-1 and VEGF (see – Vital Signs: China biotechs flesh out the VEGF bispecific battle at ASCO).Several new backers including BioTrack Capital, New Day Fund, 5Y Capital and Wider Link Enterprise Investment also participated in the round, as did existing investor TF Capital.The company last year revealed Phase I data of MHB039A in patients with relapsed/refractory solid tumours, demonstrating that the bispecific led to substantial and sustained inhibition of both PD-1 and VEGF. Tumour volume reductions were also seen in several cohorts. Based on the early results, Minghui had said it planned to seek strategic partnerships for the bispecific, which it said was well-suited for combination therapies. In the funding announcement Thursday, Minghui said it was particularly interested in exploring combos of MHB039A with antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).The fresh capital will also help the firm launch its topical JAK inhibitor MH004 (tofacitinib etocomil) for atopic dermatitis in China.SNIPR's antibiotic resistance gene therapySNIPR's latest raise will help it progress its portfolio of CRISPR-based microbial therapies. The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the German Federal Agency for Breakthrough Innovation backed the financing, alongside existing investors Lundbeckfonden BioCapital, North-East Family Office and Wellington Partners.According to the biotech, its programmes are designed to harness the natural bacterial CRISPR-based adaptive immune system to target bacteria based on their specific genomes.Its lead candidate, SNIPR001, is in a Phase Ib trial to prevent E. coli blood stream infections in patients with haemotological cancers. SNIPR is also developing a treatment for airway infections caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa in people with cystic fibrosis, as well as a CRISPR-based microbial intervention designed to eliminate antibiotic resistance genes in humans across various bacterial species and environments. Wednesday's round follows a $50-million series A raised by SNIPR in 2019.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark I June 12, 2025 I SNIPR Biome ApS (“SNIPR”), the company pioneering the development of precision medicines using CRISPR technology for microbial gene therapy, today announced that the first patient has been dosed in its Phase 1b study of SNIPR001 in patients with hematological cancer who are undergoing hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT). The Phase 1b trial (NCT06938867) is being conducted at eight centers in the US and is co-funded by CARB-X, a global non-profit partnership dedicated to supporting early-stage antibacterial research and development to address the rising threat of drug-resistant bacteria. The trial is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study investigating the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of orally administrated SNIPR001 in 24 patients with hematological cancer. SNIPR001 is the first CRISPR-armed phage therapeutic that specifically targets E. coli in the gut, for the prevention of E. coli bloodstream infections in hematological cancer patients who are undergoing hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) and are colonized with Fluoroquinolone Resistant (FQR) E. coli . Despite the significant advances in hematologic cancer therapy over the past decade, infectious complications, and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) continue to pose significant threats to patients and clinical outcomes. Currently, there are no approved therapies for the prevention of bloodstream infections (BSIs) in hematological cancer patients. SNIPR Biome is developing SNIPR001 to address this urgent unmet need to combat infections in hematological cancer patients. Dr Christian Grøndahl, Co-founder and CEO of SNIPR Biome, commented: “We are pleased to announce the dosing of the first patient in our Phase 1b study of SNIPR001 in patients with hematological cancer, representing another pivotal achievement that underscores the potential of our clinical program.” Christian continued: “This milestone builds upon the highly encouraging data from our CARB-X funded Phase 1a trial in healthy volunteers, where SNIPR001 demonstrated promising safety and target engagement.” Erin Duffy PhD, Chief of Research & Development, CARB-X, said: “At CARB-X, we are excited to see SNIPR Biome reach this important clinical milestone. The dosing of the first patient in this Phase 1b trial marks a significant step in evaluating a novel approach to preventing bloodstream infections caused by drug-resistant E. coli in vulnerable cancer patients. SNIPR001 represents a scientifically innovative strategy that could contribute to addressing an urgent clinical challenge.” Research reported in this press release is supported by CARB-X. CARB-X’s funding for this project is provided in part with federal funds from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS); Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response; Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority; under agreement number: 75A50122C00028, and by awards from Wellcome (WT224842) and Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). The content of this press release is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of CARB-X or any of its funders. About SNIPR BIOME SNIPR Biome is a Danish clinical-stage biotech company pioneering the development of precision medicines using CRISPR technology for microbial gene therapy. We are pioneering a novel use of CRISPR-Cas technology to better treat and prevent human diseases through precision killing of bacteria or gene modification. SNIPR Biome was the first company to orally dose humans with a CRISPR therapeutic and the first company to have been granted US and European patents for the use of CRISPR for targeting microbiomes. SNIPR technology is used in collaborations with CARB-X, Gates Foundation, IPATH, SPRIN-D, and MD Anderson Cancer Center. For more information, visit www.sniprbiome.com and follow us on LinkedIn and X. SOURCE: SNIPR BIOME