Alveolus Bio Enters Into Strategic Collaboration with BiomEdit

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Dec. 8, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Alveolus Bio today announced a strategic scientific collaboration with BiomEdit, an emerging animal health biotechnology company leveraging microbiome science and synthetic biology to develop novel products to prevent and treat disease in animals. BiomEdit, founded in 2022, originated through a carveout from Elanco Animal Health, formerly a division of Eli Lilly, in a strategic partnership with Ginkgo Bioworks. 

Central to this collaboration is the sharing of resources and expertise. Alveolus Bio will be studying BiomEdit's proprietary consortium of commensal strains, which secrete metabolites with documented anti-inflammatory and immune-modulating properties. In controlled in vivo studies, the strains have demonstrated a capacity to reduce viral titer in avian coronavirus challenges. Alveolus Bio aims to further research this novel consortium in the context of influenza viral infections in humans.

In turn, BiomEdit will explore the application Alveolus Bio's resMIT (respiratory microbiota-based inhaled therapeutics) platform. This platform has been developed to engineer inhalable drug particles for effective delivery into the deep lung regions. BiomEdit, with its current pipeline consisting of natural bioactives, commensal bacteria consortia, and engineered microbes, views Alveolus' inhaled therapeutics as having unique potential in the development of respiratory therapeutics in companion animals.

"We are thrilled to partner with such an innovative company that is harnessing microbiome science across a variety of health applications," said C. Vivek Lal, Founder, Chief Scientific Officer, and Executive Chairman of Alveolus Bio. "This collaboration with BiomEdit shows great potential for fortifying Alveolus' asset pipeline and advancing BiomEdit's bioproduct delivery capabilities," remarked Gaurav Mehta, Chief Executive Officer of Alveolus Bio. "It speaks volumes to the quality of the work that both companies are doing, and we look forward to furthering the biotherapeutics industry together with BiomEdit in the years to come."

"The founders and team at Alveolus Bio are advancing a first-in-class approach to targeting respiratory disease utilizing proprietary delivery formulation and leading insights into the lung microbiome. We're excited to learn from them on how this approach can be leveraged to address respiratory conditions in pets, and we're interested to see how our unique bacterial strains may advance in their hands to address important respiratory disease targets and expand their pipeline. From our very first discussions, we saw the potential of a collaboration that creates meaningful new possibilities for both companies," said Aaron Schacht, Chief Executive Officer and Board Director at BiomEdit.

Both companies emphasize their commitment to evidence-based research, with the primary goal of expanding the potential of biotherapeutic applications leveraging an advanced understanding of the microbiome.

About BiomEdit
BiomEdit is an emerging animal health biotechnology company that leverages a unique platform combining the leading science of the microbiome with synthetic biology to innovate novel animal health products to address challenges in livestock production and pet health. Founded through a strategic partnership in 2022 between Elanco Animal Health (NYSE: ELAN) and Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE: DNA), the company was born from a carve-out of technology and assets from Elanco combined with access to Ginkgo's leading cell programming platform technology. BiomEdit is a private venture funded by Anterra Capital, Viking Global Investors, Ferment, and Nutreco Ventures. In 2022, BiomEdit was recognized by S&P Global Animal Health as Best Start-up in Animal Health in its annual animal health industry awards.

For more information, visit www.biomedit.com.

About Alveolus Bio
Alveolus Bio is a respiratory drug development company with a team of scientists, physicians, and innovators pioneering breakthrough FDA-approved therapeutic assets for lung diseases. Our pipeline includes preclinical phase live biotherapeutics for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia (BPD), Pulmonary fibrosis, Lung Injury Secondary to Viral Infection, Neutrophilic Asthma, and earlier-stage programs, including Cystic Fibrosis (CF), Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH), and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome. Alveolus Bio has offices in Birmingham, AL and Cambridge, MA.

Contact:
Gaurav Mehta, MBA
CEO
[email protected]

C. Vivek Lal, MD, FAAP
Founder, CSO, and Executive Chairman
[email protected]

Website: alveolusbio.com.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/alveolus-bio/

BiomEdit Media Contact: 
Julie Lawless
[email protected]
(615) 585-5861

SOURCE Alveolus Bio, Inc and BiomEdit