Vyome Biosciences raises $14mn Series-C funding, to further invest in R&D

Vyome Biosciences, a clinical-stage specialty bio-pharmaceutical company, announced on Tuesday that it had closed a $14-million Series-C financing round, led by Perceptive Advisors, a New York-based life sciences fund, and Romulus Capital, a Boston-based venture capital firm. Existing investors including Kalaari Capital, Sabre Partners and Aarin Capital also participated in this round.

Story so far

Vyome Biosciences was co-founded in 2010 by Shiladitya Sengupta, assistant professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Rajesh Gokhale, Director of the Institute of Genomics & Integrative Biology in Delhi, Venkateswarlu Nelabhotla (N. Venkat), ex-CEO of Emami and President of Shantha Biotechnics and Rajiv Mantri Executive Director, Navam Capital. The company is positioning itself as an innovation-driven clinical stage bio-pharmaceutical company with novel platform technologies and a deep pipeline of drugs for antibiotic resistant acne, other opportunistic pathogens and anti-fungal agents in dermatology.

In September 2012, Vyome had raised a Rs 18.5-crore Series-A round from multiple investors, which was followed by a $8-million Series-B round, led by Sabre Partners, nearly two years later in August 2014. Now with their Series-C round closed, exactly two years later, Vyome anticipates initiating clinical trials for its lead programme, VB 1953, for the treatment of antibiotic resistant acne following the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) acceptance of its Investigational New Drug (IND) recently.

For this purpose, Vyome has assembled a world-class team of scientific and management experts from India and the United States, who collectively have a significant track record of conducting scientific research, developing breakthrough products and building sustainable businesses. The current team strength is about 50, including 10 PhD and MD holders. Venkateswarlu (N. Venkat), CEO, Vyome Biosciences, said,

The support from leading global and leading life investors and the continued support from our largest existing shareholders validates our company's strategy, science and development programmes. We will utilise these funds predominantly to advance the clinical development of our lead product, VB 1953, while continuing to develop other proprietary products in our pipeline.

Dr. Sengupta, Co-founder and Director of Vyome, believes that based on their work so far and this new funding round, Vyome is well-positioned to become a leader in antimicrobial resistance and treatment of skin infections.

Sector overview and future plans

According to the American Academy of Dermatology, acne represents the most common skin disease, affecting 40-50 million people in the United States, including 85 percent of teenagers. Approximately 40 percent of people with acne are suffering from antibiotic resistance.

Closer home, a recent report- 'India Cosmetic Market Outlook, 2021', estimates that the cosmetic market was growing with a CAGR of 17.06 percent over a period of five years. It consists of five main segments namely, skincare, haircare, fragrance, colour cosmetics and oral care. Haircare accounts for the majority of the market share, followed by oral care, skincare, fragrance and colour cosmetics.

Physicians around the world have cited a large unmet need for new, improved topical therapy options, vis-à-vis the current available topical products. Vyome's VB 1953 aims to target this patient population and a potential market of $2 billion. The FDA recently accepted Vyome's Investigational New Drug Application (IND) for VB 1953, and the company soon will initiate clinical studies in the US.

In addition to VB 1953, Vyome notes that it has a pipeline of pre-clinical new chemical entities, unique in their ability to overcome the development of resistance based on its patented Dual Action Rational Therapeutics (DARTs) technology. The company aims to further strengthen its intellectual property and increase the asset value of its products and technology. Vyome has also clinically proven anti-fungal products based on its breakthrough technology platform Molecular Replacement Therapy (MRT), for which the company is currently pursuing commercialisation discussions globally.

Website- Vyome Biosciences