Bactolife today announced that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has committed, in alignment with the foundation’s charitable mission, an investment of USD 5 million to accelerate the impact of Bactolife’s technology platform to develop Binding Proteins, a novel biologic solution to reduce the risk of gut infections in humans and animals.
Mads Laustsen, CEO at Bactolife, commented: “With this investment, Bactolife is able to boost our efforts in our technology platform, allowing us to reach our end customers faster and with affordable products that can benefit the many – thereby potentially impacting millions of peoples’ lives worldwide.”
Sebastian Søderberg, Deputy CEO at Bactolife, added: “We are proud of and humble for the confidence the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has shown us. We are pleased to have funding from both Novo Holdings and the Gates Foundation, and regard this as a strong validation of Bactolife’s potential to improve human and animal health worldwide and make these products accessible in developed and developing countries.”
Aleks Engel, Partner, Novo Seeds, Novo Holdings, said: “At Novo Holdings, we are very pleased that the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has decided to invest in Bactolife – and we see that this testifies to the immense potential of Bactolife’s Binding Protein™ platform to circumvent and avoid antimicrobial resistance. Our shared concern for global access to effective treatments for prevalent infectious diseases makes the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation an ideal organization to collaborate with, and we are excited for the potential impact this work will have in addressing pressing global health challenges.”
Gut infections – a major global threat
Globally, there are more than 1.6 billion cases of diarrheal diseases annually, which at best means stomach upsets. At worst, they can lead to life-threatening illnesses. Annual healthcare costs are increasing, and there are limited options to avoid disease manifestation in the first place. An estimated 760,000 children die annually from gut infections, and of those who survive, both infections later in life and growth stunting are observed. Especially in developing countries with poor access to clean water and sanitation, among immunocompromised children and older people, travelers and deployed people, gut infections are a major risk.
Today, most infections are treated with antibiotics that are either very expensive or contribute to the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Bactolife takes a unique approach to gut health for the greater good of humans and animals by developing breakthrough Binding Proteins that can reduce the risk of developing gut infections at an affordable price. With Bactolife’s technology platform and the investment made by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Binding Proteins can be formulated into food and feed products, making them easy to ingest.
