Metagen Therapeutics (MGTx), a drug-discovery startup, announced on 25 September that it had secured ¥300m ($1.9m) in an extension of its Series B funding round. Following an announcement on 4 September, this is the second tranche of funding raised in the Series B extension.
The company was founded in 2020 as a startup originating from Juntendo University (a private medical university in Tokyo), Keio University and the Institute of Science Tokyo. It is headquartered in Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture.
Ulcerative colitis: the intractable disease MGTx is tackling
Ulcerative colitis is one of the diseases designated as intractable (nanbyo) in Japan. It is a disease of unknown cause that produces inflammation or ulcers in the mucous membrane of the large intestine. The number of patients in Japan is estimated to exceed 310,000. The condition is also known as the chronic illness that former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated in 2022, had lived with since his teens.
MGTx aims to treat ulcerative colitis. It has carried out joint research with Juntendo University on “antibiotic-combined faecal microbiota transplantation therapy”, in which gut microbiota contained in the stool of healthy people are transplanted into patients with ulcerative colitis. In 2023 the therapy was approved in Japan as Advanced Medical Care.
MGTx is also developing an “oral FMT (faecal microbiota transplantation) drug”. Phase 1/2 clinical trials are currently under way in Japan and the United States.
As noted above, the 25 September announcement marks the second close of the Series B extension round. At the first close in early September, the company secured ¥190m ($1.2m) from two Japanese university funds.
CEO pledges to “accelerate the social implementation of FMT drugs and medical care”
The second close of the Series B extension round was backed by GLIN Impact Capital.
Funds secured in both the first and second closes of the Series B extension round will be used for the following purposes:
- Advancing the development of FMT drugs
- Advancing the development of FMT medical technologies
- Optimising the supply chain, including stool procurement from gut microbiota donors and the manufacture of investigational drugs, among other things
As the third point indicates, MGTx collects “stool donations” from healthy donors in Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture, where the company is headquartered.
Taku Nakahara, CEO of MGTx, commented: “Drawing on the strength of this funding, we will expand this system, which connects patients, donors, healthcare professionals and local communities, from Tsuruoka to the whole of Japan, while further accelerating the clinical development and social implementation of FMT drugs and medical technologies. We will press forward so that gut microbiota-based medicine from Japan can reach patients around the world as soon as possible.”
