Microbiome startup Kanvas Biosciences secures $48 million to advance immunotherapy and malnutrition therapies

Kanvas Biosciences announced it has closed a $48 million financing round to fund development of microbiome-based treatments targeting cancer immunotherapy response and severe malnutrition.

The capital will support the company’s imaging platform that maps gene expression of gut microbes in animal models, a technology the firm says can identify microbial signatures linked to patient outcomes.

The funding will accelerate preclinical programs and move candidate therapies toward clinical testing.

The approach originated from analysis of a cancer survivor’s stool, which revealed microbial patterns that may explain variability in immunotherapy efficacy, prompting the startup to leverage these insights for new therapies.