Arranta Bio announces the acquisition of Captozyme(TM), creating a Center of Excellence for microbiome development and clinical supply

WATERTOWN, Mass., Nov. 13, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Arranta Bio ("Arranta") announced today the acquisition of Captozyme^™, and with it the establishment of Arranta's Center of Excellence for process and analytical development and early clinical supply for microbiome clients with the transfer of the Captozyme team and facilities in Gainesville, FL to Arranta.

Formed in 2009, Captozyme has been the leader in providing development services to microbiome pioneers with a team that has developed processes for over 125 different species and 80 different genera over the past decade. In 2018, Captozyme established GMP clinical capacity and has successfully scaled processes to 400L scale fermentation through to lyophilization and encapsulation. The team has built significant know-how of handling, scaling, processing, and encapsulation of strict anaerobes.

Founder and Chief Technical Officer of Captozyme, Dr. Aaron Cowley, now Arranta's CTO, said, "Having spent ten years developing processes for clients with over 125 bacteria, including difficult to make organisms, I am delighted that our team will now increase our capacity to serve the microbiome sector as part of Arranta, and we will be able to shepherd clients' products through the clinical phases to commercial with our enhanced capabilities."

Mark Bamforth, founder, President and CEO at Arranta, said, "We welcome the team from Captozyme into Arranta and applaud the foresight of its founders, lead by Dr. Cowley, to build expertise in the microbiome field. Now, we can accelerate the delivery of live biopharmaceutical products (LBPs) to the clinic for clients and, in time, through licensure to patients worldwide."

Arranta's goal is to be the best-in-class microbiome contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), providing LBPs for microbiome-related product pioneers by bacterial fermentation, isolation, lyophilization and encapsulation.

As announced, Arranta recently completed a funding round with Ampersand Capital Partners, company founders and colleagues, and a strategic investment from Thermo Fisher Scientific. Arranta is establishing late-stage clinical and commercial-ready capacity at a new facility in Watertown, MA, which is scheduled to come online by Q3 2020.

As part of the transaction, Captozyme has spun out its enzyme therapeutic assets into a newly formed biopharmaceutical company, Oxidien Pharmaceuticals, LLC, to continue clinical development under the leadership of Captozyme's outgoing CEO, Dr. Helena Cowley.

Almost 200 companies are actively exploring the linkage between diseases and the microbiome – millions of bacteria, fungi, protozoa and viruses that live inside and on the human body – in order to identify therapeutic targets. Scientists have called it the second genome, and in fact, the number of genes in the microbes making up one person's microbiome is 200 times the number in the human genome.

Over the last decade, there has been rapid acceleration in scientific understanding of the composition and functions of the gut microbiota. Arranta is proud to be the leading CDMO supporting the supply needs of these innovators.

About Arranta Bio
Founded in 2019, Arranta Bio is a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) specifically established to focus on serving companies seeking to develop and commercialize therapies targeting the human microbiome. Headed by a management team and technical experts with a proven track record in both process development and contract manufacturing through fermentation to lyophilization and encapsulation of live biopharmaceuticals, it offers the knowledge and resources necessary to help clients to develop and manufacture promising new microbiome therapies to meet the needs of patients. Additional information about Arranta is available at www.arrantabio.com. Enquiries can be sent to info@arrantabio.com

About Captozyme^™
Captozyme^™ is the leader in process development and clinical contract manufacturing for microbiome pioneers and over the last decade the experienced team has worked with and developed processes for 125 different species and 80 different genera of live biotherapeutics. It has worked with partners to advance gut health research and make a lasting difference in the industry. Captozyme^™ was founded by Dr. Qing-Shan Li and Dr. Aaron Cowley in 2009.

About Ampersand Capital Partners
Founded in 1988, Ampersand is a middle market private equity firm dedicated to growth-oriented investments in the healthcare sector. With offices in Boston, MA and Amsterdam, Netherlands, Ampersand leverages a unique blend of private equity and operating experience to build value and drive superior long-term performance alongside its portfolio company management teams. Ampersand has helped build numerous market-leading companies across each of its core healthcare sectors, including Avista Pharma Solutions, Brammer Bio, Confluent Medical, Genewiz, Genoptix, Talecris Biotherapeutics, and Viracor-IBT Laboratories. Additional information about Ampersand is available at www.ampersandcapital.com  

Arranta Bio Media contact:
Guy Tiene
That's Nice LLC
T: +1 212 366 4455
E: guy@thatsnice.com

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SOURCE Arranta Bio