Kallyope Snags $66M in Series B to Continue Gut-Brain Axis Research
Two years after launching with $44 million New York-based Kallyope has secured an additional $66 million in Series B funding that it will use to continue its work harnessing the communicative pathways between the digestive tract and the brain to develop new therapies for various illnesses.
Kallyope Chief Executive Officer Nancy Thornberry, a Merck & Company vet with a specialty in diabetes and endocrinology, said in a statement that the Series B financing provides the company with “significant runway” to continue its work in unlocking the “the broad potential of the gut-brain axis.”
“We are now poised to become the pre-eminent player in this promising, emerging area of biology,” Thornberry added.
The gut-brain axis, the bi-directional communication between the gut and the brain, is composed of hormonal and neural circuits, Kallyope said. Researchers examine the ways in which cells in the intestines actually affect the brain, signaling such things as whether or not the body is still hungry, or if there is some sort of discomfort. More than that though Kallyope said defects in gut-brain circuits have been linked to metabolic and gastrointestinal diseases as well as CNS disorders including mood, cognition, autism, and Parkinson's disease. Kallyope has some preclinical work underway but has so far remained mum on many details.
Kallyope’s technology platform provides researchers with a well-informed approach to targeting gut-brain circuits involved in diseases of high unmet need, the company said. The technology platform is capable of leveraging cutting-edge technologies including sequencing, genetics, circuit mapping, neural imaging and bioinformatics. Using its novel technology Kallyope has initiated several drug discovery programs for modulating gut-brain circuits with gut-restricted molecules. Initially, the company will focus on metabolic and neurological disorders, but the company's technology platform and a map of gut-brain circuits are applicable to virtually every disease area involving the gut and gut-brain axis.
“Kallyope has developed a unique platform that includes single-cell sequencing, computational biology, optogenetics, chemogenetics, and circuit mapping technologies," Kallyope founder Tom Maniatis said in a statement. "By integrating these complementary technologies, Kallyope is building a comprehensive map of gut-brain circuits, which provides fundamentally new insights into gut and gut-brain biology."
Kallyope’s work since its 2015 launch has been pleasing to its initial investors. The company said all investors from the $44 million Series A participated in the Series B. The company has been financially backed by Lux Capital, The Column Group, Polaris Partners, Illumina Ventures, and Alexandria Venture Investments. Additionally new investors Euclidean Capital and Two Sigma Ventures joined the Series B funding.
Since its launch, Kallyope has grown to a team of more than 40 researchers with backgrounds in neuroscience and gut biology. The company expects to grow to nearly 60 employees by the end of 2018.