The investment round, which includes Gates Foundation, will advance Kanvas’ lead immuno-oncology drug that seeks to improve the efficacy of immunotherapy in the treatment of solid organ cancers.
PRINCETON, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Kanvas Biosciences, a full-stack spatial biology company, today announced it has raised a $48 million Series A funding round co-led by existing investors DCVC and Lions Capital LLC. Additional participating investors include Gates Foundation, ATHOS KG, Germin8, Ki Tua Fund, Pangaea Ventures and more. The fresh capital follows a July 2024 round and brings Kanvas’ total funding to $78 million. The funding will be used to conduct clinical trials for the lead drug candidate in the company’s immuno-oncology program, KAN-001, and advance commercial partnerships that leverage Kanvas’ spatial imaging and manufacturing platform for next generation live biotherapeutic product (LBP) development.
A microbiome is a collection of microorganisms and their genes that live in the gut, lungs, on skin and in other tissue. Malfunctioning microbiomes can lead to inflammatory bowel disease, celiac disease, cardiovascular problems and even impact how cancer patients respond to immunotherapy. Kanvas has developed the unique ability to spatially map microbial cells and host cells, which allows the company to manufacture LBPs made of complex consortia containing hundreds of members that can restore microbiome health, and clearly visualize LBP engraftment and activity – two longstanding roadblocks in the quest to develop effective therapeutics for restoring the microbiome.
Clinical Applications and Development Pathway
KAN-001 is a LBP designed for cancer patients who don't respond to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). While over 50% of solid organ cancer patients receive ICIs, only 10% achieve complete responses. Fecal microbiota transplants (FMT) from ICI responders can convert non-responders into responders, but they pose manufacturing challenges, pathogen risks and scalability issues. KAN-001 addresses these limitations, and has demonstrated safety and efficacy across multiple mouse models and tumor types. Importantly, the clinical pathway has been substantially de-risked: In a recent FMT trial for anti-PD-1 refractory microsatellite instability high cancers, fecal material from the same donor from which the specific KAN-001 strains were isolated was delivered to study participants via FMT. Results showed high engraftment rates, restored anti-PD-1 response and no ICI-induced colitis. Kanvas will now launch its own clinical trials and operationalize its newly opened GMP manufacturing suite.
“I began my career as a physician and always dreamed of being able to develop new drugs that could help the patients I hadn’t been able to treat with existing therapies,” said Matthew Cheng, co-founder and CEO of Kanvas Biosciences. “Most physicians never get the opportunity to realize this dream, so it’s an incredible privilege to bring Kanvas’ technology to the broader LBP market and begin conducting clinical trials of our lead drug candidate, which offers a new way to improve the therapeutic efficacy and safety of immunotherapy for cancer patients.”
Recent Company Momentum
Since announcing its Seed round in 2024, Kanvas has made significant progress. Recent milestones include:
- Investment from Gates Foundation: With new funding from Gates Foundation and other investors, Kanvas is developing the world’s first fully synthetic microbiome replacement product designed to treat and prevent maternal environmental enteric dysfunction, a major contributor to maternal undernutrition, low infant birthweight and heightened neonatal health risk.
- Clinical Trial: Preparations for patient recruitment are underway for a Phase 1 clinical trial of KAN-004, Kanvas’ immuno-oncology drug candidate that targets ICI-induced colitis and may allow cancer patients to stay on ICI therapy longer with improved response rates.
- Board Additions: Stephen Quake, the Lee Otterson Professor of Bioengineering and Professor of Applied Physics at Stanford University and former Chief Science Advisor for the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, joined Kanvas’ Board.
- New Research: Kanvas recently unveiled new research that demonstrates how the company’s spatial imaging platform outperforms gold standard methods such as metagenomics sequencing, especially in low biomass settings.
- Novel Lightsheet Microscope: The company has developed the Kanvas Spectral Lightsheet, a high-resolution, multispectral lightsheet microscope that generates vastly more spatial biology data to train Kanvas’ AI platform and build the world's first microbiome atlas.
“Creating a brand new microscope capable of collecting spatial biology data at unprecedented scale and quality is a testament to Kanvas’ deep engineering prowess and relentless commitment to unlocking the gut microbiome as a distinct organ that can be safely modified using microbial-based drugs,” said Jason Pontin, General Partner at DCVC and chair of Kanvas’ board. “Kanvas’ ability to generate novel data about host-microbiome interactions is fueling powerful AI models that are helping the company design new cancer treatments, nutritional supplements and even gastrointestinal restoration products for animals.”
Additional investors in Kanvas’ Series A include Alumni Ventures, Boutique Venture Partners, Cornell University, FemHealth Ventures, Gaingels, Mana Ventures, Red Bear Ventures, RIT Venture Fund, Triple Impact Capital, Kicker Ventures and Uncommon Denominator. For more information on Kanvas or to inquire about clinical trial site opportunities and/or LBP development partnerships, visit https://www.kanvasbio.com/.
About Kanvas Biosciences
Kanvas Biosciences is a spatial biology company building the world’s first microbiome drug screening, discovery and manufacturing platform to accelerate the development of next generation live biotherapeutics. With an unparalleled ability to spatially map the microbiome and profile host gene expression, and manufacture complex consortia containing hundreds of members that can restore microbiome health, the company is uniquely positioned to develop novel therapeutics that can significantly improve the lives of all patients living with microbiome-associated diseases. Kanvas Biosciences' technology was initially developed at Cornell University and exclusively licensed. The company's notable investors include DCVC, Lions Capital LLC, Gates Foundation, ATHOS KG, FemHealth Ventures, Germin8, Ki Tua Fund, Pangaea Ventures, Triple Impact Capital and Uncommon Denominator. Kanvas Biosciences is headquartered in Princeton, NJ. For more information, visit www.kanvasbio.com or follow the company on LinkedIn.
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